Chicago Great Western Railway Co. - Specimen Railroad Stock Certificate
Inv# SE3293 Specimen Stock
Specimen Stock printed by Franklin Bank Note Co., New York. The Chicago Great Western Railway (reporting mark CGW) was a Class I railroad connecting Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. Founded in 1885 by Alpheus Beede Stickney as the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad, it was renamed the Chicago Great Western in 1892. The railroad quickly expanded into a multi-state carrier through a series of mergers and new construction. Known as the Corn Belt Route due to its service in the Midwest, it was also nicknamed the Lucky Strike Road because of its herald's resemblance to the Lucky Strike cigarette logo. One of the last Class I railroads to be established, the CGW developed a culture of innovation and efficiency to compete with more established railroads. In 1968, it merged with the Chicago and North Western Railway (CNW), which subsequently abandoned most of the CGW's trackage.
Stock and Bond Specimens are made and usually retained by a printer as a record of the contract with a client, generally with manuscript contract notes such as the quantity printed. Specimens are sometimes produced for use by the printing company's sales team as examples of the firm’s products. These are usually marked "Specimen" and have no serial numbers.
Ebay ID: labarre_galleries