Canadian Pacific's C&M Subdivision Blu-Ray

The former Milwaukee Road, now Canadian Pacific, line between Chicago and Milwaukee, now called the C&M Subdivision, was the fastest track on the Milwaukee Road, and arguably, the fastest track between urban centers in this country until the advent of the Metroliners in the Northeast. C&M, of course, stands for Chicago and Milwaukee. In the late 1930s and 1940s, the Milwaukee’s Hiawathas used to regularly exceed the one hundred mile an hour limit that extended right into the city limits of Chicago and Milwaukee. Today the top speed is seventy nine, and Amtrak runs eight trains each way between Chicago and Milwaukee on weekdays, including the famed Empire Builder. Until the recent cutbacks in train frequency by CP’s new president, Hunter Harrison, the freight train count between these two great cities was as high as it had been since World War II, and with all the unit trains run today, the tonnage is still at or near a record level. Canadian Pacific’s profit is also at a record level since the changes instituted by Harrison. Although no trains exceeded 10,000 feet in length during our visit, a couple came close and there were many long and very heavy trains during our time along the C&M. This program shows all the trains for over twenty-four hours on CP’s C&M Subdivision just north of the Wisconsin border between Somers and Oakwood in October of 2013. “Canadian Pacific’s C&M Subdivision” is 65 minutes in length and can be watched with or without narration..