In a thread I made about suggesting the addition of the Metra Milwaukee North District line. I thought to myself, maybe we could get another decent freight/passenger route that has a similar concept to the Boston Sprinter. I love how it has that branch line over to Stoughton. So I thought maybe, another new USA route could have the same concept as Boston Sprinter. Anyways, my suggestion is the CPKC (C&M) Chicago and Milwaukee Subdivision that runs between Chicago Illinois and Milwaukee Wisconsin. The line is about 85.5 miles in length. Let’s get into the lines info, some info might be the same from the Milwaukee North District post I made a couple of months ago. The Chicago and Milwaukee Subdivision (commonly referred to as the C&M Subdivision or C&M Sub) is a 85.5-mile (137.6 km) railway line running between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is mostly dispatched by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (through its primary United States subsidiary, the Soo Line Railroad) from a CP Rail facility in Minneapolis. From Pacific Junction (Tower A-5) to Chicago Union Station, it is dispatched by Metra's Consolidated Control Facility. The C&M Subdivision is the primary of CPKC's two northern routes from Chicago. The Union Pacific Railroad operates its Milwaukee Subdivision, a former Chicago & Northwestern Railway line, parallel to the C&M (albeit to the east). From Chicago Union Station to Pacific Junction (Tower A-5), the territory is triple tracked and primarily hosts Amtrak and Metra trains. From Pacific Junction (Tower A-5) to Milwaukee, it is double tracked. Freight trains do not go further south of Pacific Junction (Tower A-5) unless they are reversing to access the Belt Railway of Chicago at Cragin Junction (where the Milwaukee District West Line's Grand/Cicero station is located). This junction is the northernmost point of the Belt Railway. The line carries Amtrak's Empire Builder, Borealis, and Hiawatha Service,[4] while Metra operates trains on the Milwaukee District North Line between Union Station and Rondout.[1] The Wisconsin & Southern Railroad runs freight services from Janesville, Wisconsinto Chicago WSOR using trackage rights south of Rondout.[5][6]CPKC (formerly Canadian Pacific) also runs frequent freight trains on this line. Here’s some history of the line: The line had previously been owned by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, commonly known as the Milwaukee Road. It once carried the Milwaukee Road's fast Hiawatha passenger trains, including trains that regularly exceeded 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). For several years in the 1940s and early 1950s, trains were scheduled to run along this stretch in 75 minutes or less. While stricter regulations eventually reduced the speed limit to 79 miles per hour (127 km/h) along this stretch, plans are in place as of 2010 to improve the line to support speeds up to 110 miles per hour (180 km/h)—modestly faster than historic trains that used the route. Here’s how the expansion would work. Just like what I said at the beginning, this expansion should be done just like how they did the Stoughton line on the Boston Sprinter Route. The Milwaukee North District splits from the C&M Subdivision at Rondout Illinois. From Rondout to Fox Lake, the line is owned by Metra. CPKC owns and maintains the entirety of the line between Chicago and Milwaukee. Down below is a list of timetable and regular scenarios that would be included 1. Metra services between Chicago and Fox Lake 2. Amtrak services between Chicago and Milwaukee 3. CPKC freight services between Chicago and Milwaukee. Freight services would include both mainline freight services and local train services. Down below are video and photo references for the route as well as locomotives that would come with the route. The following locomotives that would be included are posted down below this sentence. 1. Amtrak P42DC and F40PH NPCU’s 2. Metra F59PH’s or F40PH-3M’s 3. CPKC SD70ACu in standard, heritage, and military paint scheme, GP30 Eco’s would be included as local and shunting power. Amtrak P42DC P42 Cab interior. F40PH Non Powered Control Unit(NPCU) NPCU cab interior. Metra F59PH Unfortunately due to file limitations. The rest of the locomotive reference photos will be included in a part 2 of this suggestion.
I believe DTG have previously stated Metra licensing unlikely to happen and as they have mothballed further US freight too…
Well, hopefully by good luck Metra will come to an agreement with DTG, Here’s also hoping that the freight railroads will stop being stingy.
