CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway

reporting mark

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 19, 2024
Entity authorityQ3041134 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway (reporting mark DWP) is a subsidiary railroad of Canadian National Railway (CN) operating in northern Minnesota, United States. A CN system-wide rebranding beginning in 1995 has seen the DWP logo and name largely replaced by its parent company. The DWP line is CN's connection between International Falls and Duluth, Minnesota, where the railroad connects to a short stretch of the former Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway before following the former Wisconsin Central (both now wholly owned by CN) to Chicago, Illinois.

In 1970 DW&P reported 792 million ton-miles of revenue freight and no passenger miles; at the end of that year it operated 170 miles (274 km) of road and 232 miles (373 km) of track.

History

The Duluth, Virginia and Rainy Lake Railway (DV&RL) started construction at Virginia, Minnesota, in 1901, with the line extending north to Sand Lake, Minnesota, when the company was purchased by the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) who renamed it the Duluth, Rainy Lake and Winnipeg Railway (DRL&W).

Construction continued through 1908 to extend the line north to Ranier, Minnesota, where it bridged the Rainy River on the Canada–United States border to cross into Fort Frances, Ontario, and an interchange with the CNoR mainline between Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Port Arthur, Ontario.

In 1909, CNoR incorporated the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway, and construction started to achieve access south from Virginia, Minnesota, to Duluth, Minnesota. Duluth was reached in 1912, providing interchange with several US railways.

The DW&P mainline ran for 167 mi (269 km) from Duluth Junction at Fort Frances (CNoR interchange) to DW&P Junction (Northern Pacific Railway (U.S.)).

Following the bankruptcy of the CNoR system and its subsequent nationalization by Canada's federal government under the Canadian National Railways (CNR), the DW&P was maintained as an important connection for CNR to the upper mid-western states.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway” as reporting mark. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1995, 1970, 1901, 1908—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1909-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as reporting mark. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q3041134. The Library of Congress control number is n2007029353. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1995, 1970, 1901 and 1908.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway primary sources, Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway archive and Duluth research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.