U.S., Chicago and North Western Railroad Employment Records, 1935-1970

This collection of railroad employee records from the Chicago and North Western Railroad and the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway was digitized from the collections of the Chicago & North Western Historical Society. The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway was a smaller railroad established in 1880 and 1881 with the mergers of several rail lines. In 1882, the Chicago & North Western (CNW) bought controlling stock interest in the railway, which passed through Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

This collection includes Chicago & North Western Work Cards and Social Security applications for the years 1937–1970 and retiree records from the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway, a smaller semi-independent railway the CNW owned a controlling interest in.

• employee names
• occupations within the company, with dates and locations of service
• residences
• Social Security numbers (redacted for those born after 1912)
• birth dates
• death dates
• start dates with the company
• employee signatures
• absences from service of the company
• parents’ names (on Social Security applications)

Research Tips Pay special attention to leaves of absence. Some farmers worked railroads during the winter and requested leaves of absence during the summers to work their family farms.

Note: For potentially living persons, images have been withheld for privacy reasons.