The ''Copper Country Limited'' was a

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

operated by the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experienced financi ...

(the "Milwaukee Road") and the

Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (DSS&A; ) was an American railroad serving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Lake Superior shoreline of Wisconsin. It provided service from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and St. Ignace, Michigan, w ...

(DSS&A) between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Calumet, Michigan Calumet ( or ) is a Village (United States), village in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The village is located within Calumet Charter Township, Michigan, Calumet Township, Houghton County, Michiga ...

, in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

. It operated from 1907 to 1968.

History

According to historian Jim Scribbins the name "Copper Country Limited" was first used in March 1907 to describe an existing Chicago– Champion, Michigan–Calumet service which had run since 1899. The DSS&A handled the train north of Champion. The train operated overnight in both directions. With the arrival of the ''

Chippewa-Hiawatha The ''Chippewa'' consisting of mostly conventional components, and later known as the ''Chippewa-Hiawatha'', with a streamlined consist was a passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road") bet ...

'' on the Milwaukee Division during May 1938, the ''Copper Country Limited'' took a back seat on the Milwaukee Road's trains to Upper Michigan. During 1958, the through

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

sleeper was discontinued entirely after several cutbacks leaving only the sleeper to Calumet. As ridership continued to slide the Milwaukee offered the sleeper only three days a week beginning in the spring of 1964. During its final years, the ''Copper Country'' carried only a few cars. Its existence persisted almost entirely because of the lucrative

U.S. mail The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal servi ...

contracts that kept many similar trains running across the country. The ''Copper Country Limited'' lost its mail car in October 1967. With little reason to keep it and few riders remaining, the train made its last runs on March 7, 1968.

Timetable

The summer of 1967 timetable shows the northbound ''Copper Country Limited'' leaving Chicago at 7:25 p.m., arriving at Milwaukee at 8:50 p.m., leaving Milwaukee at 9:20 p.m, stopping at Green Bay from 12:20 a.m. to 12:55 a.m. and arriving at Champion, Michigan at 6:45 a.m. On

Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is one of the primary United States railroad subsidiaries for the CPKC Railway , one of six U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Saul ...

tracks, the ''Copper Country Limited'' left Champion at 7:20 a.m. and arrived in Calumet, Mich. at 10:05 a.m. The train made 31 stops in the 424 miles between Chicago and Calumet. The southbound ''Copper Country Limited'' left Calumet at 5 p.m., stopped at Champion from 7:40 to 7:50 p.m., Green Bay from 1:15 to 1:45 a.m., Milwaukee from 5:15 to 6:05 a.m. and arrived at Chicago at 7:45 a.m. The route had 31 stops between Calumet and Chicago.

Equipment

In steam days, the ''Copper Country Limited'' was hauled by non-streamlined Pacific

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomoti ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s. In 1952,

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

s took over and classes included

EMD FP7 The EMD FP7 is a , B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, ...

EMD E7 The E7 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. 428 cab versions, or E7As, were built from February 1945 to April 1949; 82 booster E7Bs were built from March 1945 t ...

A and

EMD E9 The E9 is a , A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois, between April 1954 and January 1964. 100 cab-equipped A units were produced and 44 cabless booster B unit ...

References

External links

The Copper Country Limited at Calumet in 1966

{{SOO named trains Passenger trains of the Milwaukee Road Railway services introduced in 1907 Railway services discontinued in 1968 Soo Line Railroad