Red River Valley & Western

Company History: RRV&W is a 1987 spinoff of Burlington Northern. The southeast corner of the system is in the Breckenridge, Minnesota area and is the only portion not in North Dakota. Some of the mileage is on BNSF and Canadian Pacific trackage rights. Prior to the BN merger, most of the RRV&W routes were owned by Northern Pacific while one was a former Great Northern line.

With a few of the early lines since cast off, the current RRV&W system map looks a bit like the Big Dipper. The rough rectangle at the base connects Breckenridge with Bernard to the west, then north to Independence, then east to Davenport, then southeast to Breckenridge again. From Independence, the line strikes out into the northwest as far as Maddock, North Dakota. In addition, there are short branchlines and trackage rights on BNSF between Casselton, Valley City and Jamestown. In total, RRV&W today runs 557 miles of line.

RRV&W began operation with 10 ex-Santa Fe CF-7’s. As traffic has grown, so has the diesel roster. RRV&W shares their burgundy and gold paint scheme with their sister railroads Twin Cities & Western and Minnesota Prairie Line.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.