This post consists of a rather large lore drop for the fictional railroad that will occupy my layout. There is quite a bit of creative liberties taken with the lore, including some re-writing of history.

The PC&NP is a fictional North Dakota-based class 2 railroad founded in 2010 by the merging of three Class 3 railroads—The Pioneer Central and Northern Plains railroads of North Dakota and the Central Northern railroad of Minnesota. To properly understand the railroad, I am going to provide a quick lore drop on each of the predecessors.

Pioneer Central (fictional): Founded in 1950 as the Pioneer Lines Railroad (PLRR for short), the Pioneer Central was originally a subsidiary of the fictional Pioneer Lines shipping company based out of Duluth, MN. The idea behind the railroad was that it could ship bulk cargoes like grain and coal from their origins in the American Midwest to Pioneer Lines’ docks in Duluth and Superior for cheaper than the Class 1s of the time. The PLRR started off strong with the purchase of a floundering railroad in North Dakota known as Upper Midwest Rail. This railroad provided them with a foothold in North Dakota, and the PLRR swiftly built a mainline through the heart of Northern Minnesota to connect to the newly acquired track.

For the first 25-odd years of its existence, the PLRR was kept afloat by cushy funding from the parent company, but was hindered by strict rules of the company that limited its ability to grow. For example: Up until the 1960s, the PLRR was only allowed to ship freight for Pioneer Lines. Eventually, Pioneer Lines reduced their regulations and the PLRR expanded operations, even starting a short-lived passenger program in 1967.

In 1976, though, Pioneer Lines Shipping co. dropped financial support of the PLRR and cut ties with the railroad due to a decrease in shipping traffic for the company and an increase in operating costs of the PLRR caused jointly by the 1970s oil crisis and the aging equipment of the PLRR. The railroad was forced to rapidly downsize and rebrand to Pioneer Central.

For the next 2-3 decades, the railroad scraped by with precious few customers. It wasn’t until the late 1990s, when the railroad got a new chief of operations, that their fortunes began to turn around. Some clever negotiating led to deals with BNSF which—along with strategic restructuring of the railroad’s operations—helped the railroad begin to claw its way back into the picture, and most importantly, made them a more enticing option for a merger.

Central Northern (fictional): The second railroad that makes up the PC&NP started out as a small farmer-led operation in the 1950s, when Great Northern abandoned current-day BNSF Westhope branchline. The newly formed Central Northern began operating the branchline, and eventually obtained trackage rights to current-day BNSF Devil’s lake subdivision.

In the late 1960s, Central Northern took full ownership of the subdivision when Great Northern’s successor, Burlington Northern, viewed the former NP mainline known as the KO subdivision as more profitable and agreed to sell the subdivision to Central Northern.

In 1976, when Pioneer Central collapsed, Central Northern took control of a good portion of the railroad’s old network in Minnesota, and this is where Central Northern’s success truly began. Using former PLRR track as a home base, Central Northern pushed further into Minnesota. By the late 90s, the bulk of the railroad’s business was in Minnesota, and they viewed their original North Dakota trackage as a financial burden. In 2001, the CNRR leased the irl Devil’s lake subdivision, along with all the branch lines it contained, to a new company known as the Bottineau, Rugby & Devil’s Lake and ceased their own operations in the area.

Northern Plains (real): Since NPR is a real railroad that can be researched, I won’t say much about it on here. I will give a brief background though. Northern Plains Rail services was founded in 1997. The railroad leases and operates former Soo Line track, mainly in the North-eastern part of the state. They also operate a small island of former Soo Line track stretching from Kramer, ND to Kenmare, ND.

The Merger: In the late 2000s, the 3 railroads submitted a request to the Surface Transportation Board to approve the merger. The request was approved in 2009, and the 3 railroads officially merged in 2010, forming the Pioneer Central & Northern Plains. In the 15 years since the merger, the PC&NP has become a large player in North Dakota and Minnesota, hauling everything from grain to Lignite coal. Throughout this process, they have purchased and leased trackage, reactivated long-silent lines, and even built new track. I will focus on the Magic City Subdivision though, since that is what my layout will be modeling.

The Magic City subdivision contains some of the oldest track on the network. The right of way was laid down in the 1890s by Upper Midwest Rail, although most of the original 19th century track has been razed and replaced. The subdivision runs northeast from Gamman yard, a few miles east of Hillsboro, ND, to Surrey, ND, where the tracks meet BNSF’s KO subdivision leading into Gavin yard. The track leading into Gavin yard was built by the PC&NP in 2013. Before, the line had terminated at Pinewood, a fictional town located about 10 miles southeast of Granville, ND. The town had been built at the original terminus of UMR’s track, and survives today as a stop for local grain trains. The subdivision had been called the UMR sub prior to the extension, but was renamed to Magic City Subdivision once it reached Gavin yard, since Minot, ND, is known as the Magic City.