I Was wondering if theres alot of us out there ,or,far and between,if so we can make this our C&NW Spot…
Carl[:)]
Any pics or news on the lost line ???
When I grew up in Winona that was the line though town, but was never as popular as the CB&Q or the Milwaukee. I visited the yards in the 70’s and very little was left, but the swinging bridge was still there. Now it is only a memory I wish I could recall more vividly. I have no pictures but would like to see some.
I will be having some C&NW on my layout paralleling the North Shore, running pushPull passengers and a little 4-6-0 running freight. I got the 4-6-0 and runs great (Bachmann)
arthill try this site http://www.mtco.com/~epa2154/cnwimage.htm
its a good start my friend
I would not call myself a fan, per se, but I am modeling the mine in White City Illinois in the late 50’s, not long before its closure.
This is all that is left
The mine head has long since gone, as well as the large smokestack. This brick structure was the powerplant for the mine. The mine was a subsiduary of the CNW.
What a shame simon, but atleast we have the pictures to remember by
thankyou ac4400fan. All I remember is steam. There were some parts laying around and the roundhouse was still there when I last visited. Don’t get back to Winona any more but I assume it is all gone and a housing unit sits in its place.
Yea theres alot of sites out there arthill,please call me carl 
we all can have this our chat forem ,for all to see and enjoy ,all of chicago and northwestern …carl
G’day all from Australia,I’ve become a big CNW fan in the last year or so.I have my own Line the WEUSANDCORR[ 30yrs in 2006 gad that long!] where I bought C&NW loco’s and redecaled them to my line,but I became more quizative about the prototype to the point that I built an interchange to run C&NW and now i am in a major rebuild in a 10 x 8 room trying to model line from Chicago to Galena and Rockford . I used as a basis the layout in 48 track plans from MR. The C&NW still lives here and SD70macs are being rostered with same paint scheme as ac4400’s and an Athearn Genesis in red and silver colours is being tested as I print.This loco was procured from a US navyman at the horth Pole through Ebay. Regards Les
I’m a NorthWestern fan too, mostly due to all the exposure I had to the road in my childhood, growing up on the north side of Chicago. As a teen, my dad and I chased the executive F’s all over Cheeseland, as well as 1385, which is one of my all-time favorite steamers.
I’d REALLY like it if someone would come out with a model of 1385 in HO plastic. Since North Freedom can’t seem to get off their thumbs and actually get her back up and running (but they have the money to restore everything else in their collection?) I could at least see her running on my layout!
C&NW fan here - grew up on the “old line” between Chicago and Milwaukee, where we saw passenger trains, some freight, and lots of local switching of the heavy industries in the southern suburbs of Milwaukee WI
There are many websites with CNW photos and info
if you go to the Chicago & North Western Historical Society website they have links to many (but not all) of them.
http://www.cnwhs.org/
And Don Ross’s classic and glorious website has CNW in addition to just about every other railroad tht ever existed.
http://donross.railspot.com/
Dave Nelson
Dave Nelson
I’m another C.N.W. fan
Here’s the link to C.N.W. Historical Society. A great site for Northwestern fan.
http://www.cnwhs.org/
And here is a link to a CNW forum,but it isn’t use much.
http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?board=CNW
I model the CNW!!, I have GP40’s and 38-2’s. I model the mid 80’s and am currently builing a replica layout of the Boone Iowa yard.
I grew p in Waukegan Il. and remember the yards and roundhouse there. I must have taken 200 rolls of pictures there when I was supposed to be in school. Unfortunately, they all disappeared when my mom cleaned up after I left home. (cry ). I now model the area very loosely). The historical society sent me blueprints of the yards circa 1921-29. Sure brings back memories.
BB
Hey, one more CNW fan here… I spent (or mis-spent) a lot of time at Beverly Yard on the South edge of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; as well as at the ex-RI North Yard. I’m in the process of converting a bedroom into the future home of an HO layout very loosely based on Cedar Rapids operations in the 1988-1993 era. Living in Clarence, Iowa, I see/hear Uncle Pete’s daily parade…but have to lament that it’s all yellow and gray instead of yellow and green now!
Another great CNW weblink: www.cnw-rail.com
Have a “400” complete with E’s and a four car bi-level commuter set with an F pulling and pushing.
I too am a CNW fan that grew up on the west side of Chicago (Oak Park). During college I worked for CNW’s engineer of buildings and commuted via the bi-levels to CNW’s downtown offices over the Northwestern station.
During that time I also visited North Freedom, helped with the original restoration on weekends and have a great head-on picture of 1385 from that time.
CNW Fan here! Great Grandfather worked for them for 50 years, all steam era, and my great-uncle worked for them for 40+ years. I grew up in Chicago watching the scoots.
www.cnwhs.org is also the site I suggest. Check out the photo section on the web site. Great stuff going up there all the time.
Also, I suggest joining the CNWHS, as the North Western Lines magazine is an invaluable tool for modelling, or just for good reading. (Disclaimer: I write a small column every quarter for NWL).
Also, back issues are available on eBay, or at swaps.
The other cool thing about the CNWHS, is that’s where I first learned much about their predecessors, the CGW and the M&StL. Fascinating roads themselves.
Paul August
Happy to see other CNW fans out there getting together. Another site is www.drgw.net/cnw . It hasn’t been updated for a while but it has plenty of information.
My passion for the North Western began when I was young living next door to a C&NW engineer who ran freights and scoots on the West Line out of Chicago. Thanks to the ride he gave me in the cab of an ex-RI GP7 over the old CGW Fox River bridge in St Charles, I was hooked for life.