former American railroad that was once one of the largest in the Midwest (Middle West).

The railroad was incorporated in 1859 as a successor to the foreclosed Columbus, Hocking Valley and Toledo Railway. Its first president was William Butler Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago. A constituent company that was acquired in 1864, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, was the first railroad to run west of Chicago, in 1848. Other major acquisitions were the Chicago Milwaukee and North Western Railway Company and the Elgin and State Line Railroad Company, added in 1883. Following bankruptcy in 1935, the company was reorganized in 1944. The railroad streamlined its operations and abandoned many unprofitable lines of track, but continuing losses led to the employee buyout of 1972, at which time the company adopted the Chicago and North Western name. Union Pacific Railroad (Union Pacific Railroad Company), which had held significant interests in Chicago and North Western stock since 1989, took full ownership of the railroad in 1995.

The system served an 11-state region west of Lake Michigan and south of Lake Superior, extending from Chicago to Duluth, Minn., in the north and to central Wyoming in the west. Its principal routes were in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska. It also operated an express freight service to the West Coast in conjunction with the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads.