Nostalgia & History > Dissemination of MILW's Assets

In doing some Internet searches, who acquired all of Milwaukee's large assets, what did they pay for them and when were such transactions closed? It looks like 760 miles consisting of the "Core Lines" in South Dakota were purchased first by the state for $18.75 million in 1980. The State of South Dakota then moved on to acquire 480 miles of the PCE from Ortonville, MN to Miles City, MT for $30.4 million. In 1985, the Soo Line purchased the 3,100 mile "Milwaukee II" system consisting essentially of MILW's main line from Chicago to Ortonville, its lines and trackage rights to Louisville and the line to Kansas City for $570 Million. The BN purchased the MILW's line over Snoqualmie Pass but don't know how much they paid for it or when that transaction was completed. The the State of Montana attempted to purchase a large section of the PCE from Miles City to Marengo, WA for $55 million but was unable to close on that arrangement. If anyone can elaborate further, that would be appreciated.

Parts of the Milwaukee in Montana & Washington are now a hiking and biking trail.

Northern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The the State of Montana attempted to purchase a
> large section of the PCE from Miles City to
> Marengo, WA for $55 million but was unable to
> close on that arrangement. If anyone can
> elaborate further, that would be appreciated.

Potlatch beat Montana to the punch, purchasing Avery - Plummer plus the branch from Saint Maries to Bovill.

UP purchased Manito - Plummer, plus Milwaukee's interests in Black River - Tacoma Jct. and Helsing Jct. - Aberdeen. UP also purchased Milw yard properties in Tacoma and Seattle and the property in Fife where Milw was constructing a new Tacoma yard.

Best regards,

Rob L.

There's still about a mile +/- still intact of MILW main through the former Hoerner-Waldorf (later Stone Container and Smurfit Stone), west of Missoula, Montana. Not sure who owns it, but MRL and Smurfit crews were the last to use it. Smurfit and predecessors had their own in house switchers. The plant trackage is still intact the last time I drove by on Mullan Road.

And yes, it still has some of the heavy track bond wires left over from electrification.
Dave from Msla

The tracks from Tacoma south to Chehalis Washington were purchased by Weyerhaeuser, who continued their lumber operations in the area and transporting the logs for export or to other Weyerhaeuser facilities. The trackage was later operated by Tacoma Rail, parts of the route were to be part of the current commuter train Defiance Point bypass project.

dgraves Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Parts of the Milwaukee in Montana & Washington are
> now a hiking and biking trail.

Snoqualmie Pass tunnel...part of the hiking trail you mentioned.  Old MILW main I believe.

---

Yes, summit tunnel

When was the Snoqualmie Pass tunnel purchased by BN?  Why didn't they ever use it after they acquired it?

Northern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When was the Snoqualmie Pass tunnel purchased by
> BN?  Why didn't they ever use it after they
> acquired it?

BN purchased Maple Valley - Cedar Falls - Snoqualmie Falls (over which it had trackage rights after construction of Interstate 90 disrupted its traditional routing via Issaquah) soon after the March, 1980, shutdown of Milw Lines West in order to continue service to the Weyerhaeuser mill. I am not certain but I believe the purchase of the Cedar Falls - Easton main line segment came about a year or two later. At the time there arose the prospect of significant Pacific Rim exports of Powder River coal. BN's Seattle GM Jerry Wicks prevailed on the ex-Frisco BN management to buy the low-grade Milw line (only 0.7% grade westbound) as a means to efficiently accommodate the coal traffic.

The coal traffic never materialized so the Milw line was not activated. Circa 1985 Washington State DOT offered to build a high-speed connection from the Milw line near Bagley Jct. to the ex-NP line near Ravensdale in order to get the trains out of Renton and simplify reconstruction of Interstate 405.

The BN Seattle management wanted to keep the Milw line as a back-up in case something went wrong on Stevens Pass. Shoddy logging practices led to a massive mud slide circa 1986 that took out the largest trestle on the line. BN VPO Richard Grayson did not want to pay the taxes and upkeep on a back-up line. He felt Stevens Pass plus the Gorge was more than enough railroad so he ordered the refusal of the WSDOT offer and the abandonment of the Milw line in 1987.

Under Washington state's trails-to-rails legislation, BNSF had the right to reactivate the Milw line. The Krebs management was completely unaware of this and rebuilt the Stampede Pass line instead.

The strategic disinvestment decisions by BN management in the 1980s (Snoqualmie, MRL, SP&S FIsh Lake - Pasco, ripping out double track St. Cloud - Northtown, etc., etc.) comprise a low point in American railroad management.

Best regards,

Rob L.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/18 07:03 by rob_l.