Wisconsin Central Ltd. (WC) started in US 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 Railroad acquired the Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Minnesota holdings of the bankrupt Milwaukee Road 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, Wisconsin Central acquired the 322-mile (518 km) Canadian
Algoma Central Railway whose tracks ran north of Sault Saint Marie to Hearst, Ontario. The Algoma Central runs a popular tourist passenger train through the
Agawa Canyon and Agawa Canyon Wilderness Park near Lake Superior Provincial Park.
In 2001, the Wisconsin Central was purchased by
Canadian National. Along with the former
Illinois Central Railroad, the former Wisconsin Central became part of Canadian National's United States holdings and its property integrated into the CN system.
1993: A Wisconsin Central-led consortium acquires
New Zealand Rail through a new subsidiary, Wisconsin Central International, and renames it
Tranz Rail in 1995[2]
1995: WC acquires the
Algoma Central Railway through a new subsidiary, Wisconsin Central Canada Holdings[3]
1996: WC partners with
Canadian National (CN) and
CSX, inaugurating a new intermodal shipping corridor between the west and east coasts of
North America
January 30, 2001: Wisconsin Central and
Canadian National announce plans for CN to purchase the former for
$800 million and the assumption of $400 million of WC's debt, it is completed on October 9, 2001[9]