Chicago & North Western Railway in Michigan — Upper Peninsula Iron-Ore Operations

Chicago & North Western Railway (“CNW” — founded 1859, Chicago HQ, merged into Union Pacific 1995) operated in Michigan only in the Upper Peninsula, where it ran an iron-ore railroad hauling Marquette Range and Menominee Range ore to Lake Michigan and Lake Superior ore docks. CNW never served the Lower Peninsula. According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, CNW’s documented Michigan Upper Peninsula ore-line premises during the U.S. asbestos era allegedly included:

  • Escanaba MI — CNW’s principal Lake Michigan ore-dock terminal, with an ore dock, engine terminal, roundhouse, and car-repair facilities loading iron ore into lake freighters. The Escanaba ore dock was a signature CNW facility for the entire steam and diesel era.
  • Ishpeming MI — CNW ore-line yard and engine-servicing facilities in the heart of the Marquette Iron Range, serving loaded ore trains from the range mines.
  • Iron Mountain MI — CNW division-line yard and engine-servicing point in the Menominee Range, on the ore route south into Wisconsin and to Escanaba.
  • Ironwood MI — CNW yard and engine-servicing facilities in the western Upper Peninsula Gogebic Range.

Plaintiffs allegedly experienced railroad-worker asbestos exposure at these Upper Peninsula premises during the steam and diesel eras through asbestos-containing brake-shoe dust at ore-line rip tracks and car shops (heavy ore cars generated allegedly intense brake-shoe wear), allegedly asbestos-lagged steam-locomotive boilers on the ore-hauler fleet, allegedly asbestos pipe covering on shop and roundhouse steam mains, allegedly asbestos block insulation on shop boilers, allegedly asbestos ceiling and partition board in shop, roundhouse, and dock-office buildings, and allegedly asbestos-insulated piping and equipment inside the Escanaba ore-dock structures.

Workers Exposed at CNW Michigan Operations

  • Railroad car repairmen at Escanaba, Ishpeming, Iron Mountain, and Ironwood
  • Locomotive engineers, firemen, and hostlers on CNW ore trains
  • Railroad shop machinists, boilermakers, pipefitters, sheet-metal workers, and electricians
  • Roundhouse and locomotive-servicing workers
  • CNW yard switchmen, conductors, and brakemen on the ore-line
  • Escanaba ore-dock maintenance workers
  • Shop-building maintenance workers exposed to alleged building asbestos

FELA — Railroad Workers Have a Different Statute

Railroad workers exposed to asbestos on the job are covered by the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), not state workers’ compensation. FELA claims have their own limitation periods (three-year discovery rule), causation standards (any part of the injury caused in whole or in part by railroad negligence), and procedural rules. FELA liability follows the railroad through successor entities — for CNW, that means Union Pacific as the surviving employer.

Free, confidential case evaluation: Speak with O’Brien Law Firm — (314) 936-2956