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, valley, western and/or railroad:
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—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“Over the mountains of the moon, down the valley of the shadow. Ride, boldly ride, the shade replied, in search of El Dorado.”
—Leigh Brackett (1915–1978)
“So motionless, she seemed stone dead—just seemed:
She was too old for death, too old for life,
For as if jealous of all living forms
She had lain there before bivalves began
To catacomb their shells on western mountains.”
—Edwin John Pratt (1882–1964)
“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say—I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”
—Harriet Tubman (1821–1913)