Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad) — Plants in Missouri

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that they were exposed to asbestos while working at Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad) plants in Missouri. This page documents the Missouri portion of Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad)’s multi-state operations. For the full corporate summary and plants in other states, see the Milwaukee Road (Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad) manufacturer page.

Premises Description

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road” — founded 1847, headquartered Chicago, Illinois with major operations centered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; entered bankruptcy 1977, Pacific Extension abandoned 1980, remaining core routes absorbed by Soo Line 1985 and later Canadian Pacific) was through the 20th century one of the principal U.S. Upper Midwest and transcontinental Class I freight railroads. The Milwaukee Road system spanned Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. The railroad’s flagship shop and yard complexes included the Milwaukee Shops / West Milwaukee Shops (Milwaukee WI — the railroad’s largest locomotive and car-repair complex), Bensenville Yard (Chicago IL), Tomah WI, Minneapolis MN, Deer Lodge MT (Pacific Extension electric operations), Tacoma WA, and Council Bluffs / Ottumwa / Perry IA — all major regional workplaces through the asbestos era.

Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) that the Milwaukee Road exposed its railroad workforce to asbestos through:

  • Asbestos brake-shoe dust at Milwaukee Road rip tracks, car shops, and locomotive servicing facilities
  • Asbestos locomotive insulation on steam-era boiler lagging, diesel engine-room piping, and the railroad’s unique electric-locomotive traction-motor and transformer insulation on the Pacific Extension
  • Asbestos pipe covering on shop and roundhouse steam mains
  • Asbestos block insulation on shop boilers at West Milwaukee, Bensenville, and Deer Lodge
  • Spray-applied asbestos fireproofing on shop structural steel
  • Asbestos ceiling and partition board in shop, roundhouse, and office buildings
  • Asbestos brake dust on freight cars received from interchange partners

The Milwaukee Road has been named as a Premises Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation under FELA. Successor liability has been asserted through the reorganization estate and against Soo Line / Canadian Pacific.

Workers Exposed

  • Railroad car repairmen at West Milwaukee Shops, Bensenville, Tomah, Minneapolis, and Deer Lodge
  • Locomotive engineers, firemen, and hostlers on Milwaukee Road trains, including Pacific Extension electric-locomotive crews
  • Railroad shop machinists, boilermakers, pipefitters, sheet-metal workers, and electricians
  • Roundhouse and locomotive-servicing workers
  • Milwaukee Road yard switchmen, conductors, and brakemen
  • Shop-building maintenance workers exposed to building asbestos

If You Worked for the Milwaukee Road

If you worked for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad — at any Milwaukee Road yard, shop, roundhouse, or facility in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana, Washington, or elsewhere on the Milwaukee Road system during the asbestos era — and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, or another asbestos-related illness, you may have legal rights under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), even though the railroad itself was reorganized and absorbed in the 1980s.

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