The Red River Valley and Western Railroad (reporting mark RRVW) is a regional railroad operating in the US states of North Dakota and Minnesota, which began operations in 1987. Its 648 miles (1,043 km) of track originally acquired from the Burlington Northern Railroad included:
- Wahpeton, North Dakota to Oakes, North Dakota
- Breckenridge, Minnesota to Brushvale, Minnesota
- Wahpeton, North Dakota to Casselton, North Dakota
- Chaffee Junction, North Dakota to Chaffee, North Dakota
- Casselton, North Dakota to Marion, North Dakota
- Oakes, North Dakota to Jamestown, North Dakota
- Horace, North Dakota to Independence, North Dakota
- La Moure, North Dakota to Edgeley, North Dakota
- Jamestown, North Dakota to Minnewaukan, North Dakota
- Pingree, North Dakota to Regan, North Dakota
- Carrington, North Dakota to Turtle Lake, North Dakota
- Oberon, North Dakota to Esmond, North Dakota
Shortly after operations began, the Red River Valley and Western Railroad acquired a 19-mile (31 km) rail line between Oakes, North Dakota and Hecla, South Dakota from the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern Railroad. 18 miles (29 km) of this rail line, beginning just south of Oakes, North Dakota, however, would be abandoned on September 7, 2001.
Currently, the Red River Valley and Western Railroad owns and operates 490 miles (790 km) of trackage which includes:
- Breckenridge, Minnesota to Brushvale, Minnesota
- Wahpeton, North Dakota to Oakes, North Dakota
- Wahpeton, North Dakota to Casselton, North Dakota
- Chaffee Junction, North Dakota to Chaffee, North Dakota
- Oakes, North Dakota to Jamestown, North Dakota
- Horace, North Dakota to Independence, North Dakota
- La Moure, North Dakota to Edgeley, North Dakota
- Jamestown, North Dakota to Maddock, North Dakota
- Pingree, North Dakota to Woodworth, North Dakota
- Additional trackage rights on the BNSF Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway from Ransom Junction, North Dakota to Lucca, North Dakota, from Casselton, North Dakota to Jamestown, North Dakota, and from Breckenridge, Minnesota to Geneseo Junction, North Dakota
The Red River Valley and Western Railroad is affiliated with the Twin Cities and Western Railroad and the Minnesota Prairie Line. Andrew Thompson is the chief executive officer of all three railroads.
Famous quotes containing the words red river, red, river, valley, western and/or railroad:
“Red river, red river,
Slow flow heat is silence
No will is still as a river
Still.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“a flock of bright red lanterns
has settled.”
—Charles Reznikoff (1894–1976)
“Hard by the lilied Nile I saw
A duskish river dragon stretched along.
The brown habergeon of his limbs enamelled
With sanguine alamandines and rainy pearl:
And on his back there lay a young one sleeping,
No bigger than a mouse;”
—Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849)
“Ah! I have penetrated to those meadows on the morning of many a first spring day, jumping from hummock to hummock, from willow root to willow root, when the wild river valley and the woods were bathed in so pure and bright a light as would have waked the dead, if they had been slumbering in their graves, as some suppose. There needs no stronger proof of immortality. All things must live in such a light. O Death, where was thy sting? O Grave, where was thy victory, then?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Sir Walter Raleigh might well be studied, if only for the excellence of his style, for he is remarkable in the midst of so many masters. There is a natural emphasis in his style, like a man’s tread, and a breathing space between the sentences, which the best of modern writing does not furnish. His chapters are like English parks, or say rather like a Western forest, where the larger growth keeps down the underwood, and one may ride on horseback through the openings.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“This I saw when waking late,
Going by at a railroad rate,
Looking through wreaths of engine smoke
Far into the lives of other folk.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)