Chicago & North Western Railway in Wisconsin — Milwaukee, Green Bay, Chippewa Falls, Menominee-Area & Ashland

Chicago & North Western Railway (“CNW” — founded 1859, Chicago HQ, merged into Union Pacific 1995) had extensive system-wide operations across Wisconsin, from Milwaukee on Lake Michigan to Ashland on Lake Superior, and served the paper mills of the Fox Valley and the iron-ore and lumber traffic of the north. According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, CNW’s documented Wisconsin shops, division points, roundhouses, and yards during the U.S. asbestos era allegedly included:

  • Milwaukee WI — CNW’s principal Wisconsin operating base; freight yard, engine terminal, passenger operations, and interchange with Milwaukee Road, Soo Line, and other carriers. A system-wide operational hub through the entire asbestos era.
  • Green Bay WI — CNW division-point yard, roundhouse, and car-repair facilities serving the Fox Valley paper-mill industry and northern Wisconsin freight.
  • Chippewa Falls WI — CNW division-line yard and engine-servicing point on the northwest Wisconsin main line.
  • Menominee-area (Marinette WI / Menominee MI border) — CNW yard and engine facilities serving the Menominee River lumber and iron-range traffic across the state line into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
  • Ashland WI — CNW yard and Lake Superior ore-dock and coal-dock terminal on Chequamegon Bay, serving the Gogebic Range iron-ore trade during the peak ore-hauling era.

Plaintiffs allegedly experienced railroad-worker asbestos exposure at these Wisconsin premises during the steam and diesel eras through asbestos-containing brake-shoe dust at rip tracks and car shops, allegedly asbestos-lagged steam-locomotive boilers and diesel engine-room piping, allegedly asbestos pipe covering on shop and roundhouse steam mains, allegedly asbestos block insulation on shop boilers, allegedly spray-applied asbestos fireproofing on shop structural steel, allegedly asbestos ceiling and partition board in shop, roundhouse, and office buildings, allegedly asbestos-insulated equipment inside the Ashland ore-dock and coal-dock structures, and allegedly asbestos brake dust on freight cars received from every interchange partner.

Workers Exposed at CNW Wisconsin Operations

  • Railroad car repairmen at Milwaukee, Green Bay, Chippewa Falls, Marinette, and Ashland
  • Locomotive engineers, firemen, and hostlers on CNW trains
  • Railroad shop machinists, boilermakers, pipefitters, sheet-metal workers, and electricians
  • Roundhouse and locomotive-servicing workers
  • CNW yard switchmen, conductors, and brakemen
  • Ashland ore-dock and coal-dock maintenance workers
  • Paper-mill spur crews serving the Fox Valley mills out of Green Bay
  • Shop-building maintenance workers exposed to alleged building asbestos

FELA — Railroad Workers Have a Different Statute

Railroad workers exposed to asbestos on the job are covered by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), not state workers’ compensation. FELA claims have their own limitation periods (three-year discovery rule), causation standards (any part of the injury caused in whole or in part by railroad negligence), and procedural rules. FELA liability follows the railroad through successor entities — for CNW, that means Union Pacific as the surviving employer.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956