 Twin Cities and Western Railroad trackage. Solid lines are track owned by TCWR; dotted lines are TCWR trackage rights. | |
 A Twin Cities and Western Railroad train waits in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Glencoe, Minnesota |
| Reporting mark | TCWR |
| Locale | Minnesota, South Dakota |
| Dates of operation | 1991–present |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Length | 229 miles (369 km) |
| Other | |
| Website | Official website |
The Twin Cities and Western Railroad (reporting mark TCWR) is a railroad operating in the U.S. state of Minnesota which started operations on July 27, 1991.[1][2] Trackage includes the former Soo Line Railroad "Ortonville Line", originally built as the first part of the Pacific extension of the Milwaukee Road. This main line extends from Hopkins, Minnesota (a Western suburb of the Twin Cities),to Appleton, Minnesota. The line was originally built between Hopkins and Cologne, Minnesota, in 1876 by Hastings and Dakota Railroad. In 1913, the Milwaukee Road rerouted it, reducing the curves. The line was eventually extended to the Pacific.
As of 1991, the TCWR also has trackage rights over the BNSF Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 2012, the TCWR purchased the Sisseton Milbank Railroad and it now operates as a subsidiary of the Twin Cities and Western Railway.[3]
The company is also affiliated with the Red River Valley and Western Railroad in North Dakota, and the Minnesota Prairie Line, which has a junction with the Twin Cities and Western in Norwood Young America, Minnesota.
- ^ 218-mile TC&W begins operation in Minnesota Railway Age September 1991 page 25
- ^ Lewis, Edward (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide, 5th Edition. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. p. 316. ISBN 0-89024-290-9. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ^ "Sisseton Milbank Railroad Overview." Twin Cities & Western Railroad Company. Retrieved: 22 March 2015.