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Wisconsin Central's existence as an independent carrier was short lived. The line was leased from 1889-1893 by the Northern Pacific Railroad . The lease was terminated when the Northern Pacific declared bankruptcy in 1893. After a proposed merger with the Northern Pacific fell through in 1908, the Wisconsin Central was leased by the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway, commonly known as the Soo Line in 1908. Controlling interest in the Soo Line (along with the Wisconsin Central) was held by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Wisconsin Central was entirely merged into the Soo Line in 1961. While under the control of the Northern Pacific , the Wisconsin Central Railroad constructed Solon Spencer Beman 's great romanesque Grand Central Station (Chicago) in 1889 as its southern terminus and later sold the station to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WC) started in the mid 1980s using most of the original Wisconsin Central Railway's rights of way and some former Milwaukee Road rights of way after the Soo Line acquired the Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Minnesota holdings of the bankrupt Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific RR) and divested its older railway trackage in Wisconsin. In 1993 the Wisconsin Central also acquired the Green Bay And Western Railroad and the Fox River Valley Railroad . In 1995, the Wisconsin Central acquired the 322 mile Canadian Algoma Central Railroad whose tracks ran north of Sault Saint Marie to Hearst, Ontario. The Algoma Central is best known for its tourist popular passenger train through the Agawa Canyon and Agawa Canyon Wilderness Park near Lake Superior Provincial Park. In 2001 the Wisconsin Central was purchased by a second Canadian railroad, the Canadian National . Along with the former Illinois Central , the former Wisconsin Central became part of Canadian National's United States holdings and its property integrated into the CN system. WISCONSIN CENTRAL LTD.
At one time, Wisconsin Central Ltd owned or operated railroads in America , Canada (the Algoma Central ), the United Kingdom ( English, Welsh And Scottish Railway ), New Zealand ( Tranz Rail ) and Australia ( Australian Transport Network Limited ). At the time of the railroad's sale to Canadian National Railway , Wisconsin Central operated over 2,850 Mile s of Track in the Great Lakes region. The railroad extended from Chicago into and through Wisconsin to Minneapolis/St. Paul and Duluth , Minnesota , to Sault Ste Marie, Michigan , and north (through the Algoma Central Railway ) to Hearst, Ontario . Timeline
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