CHICAGO, ST. PAUL, MINNEAPOLIS & OMAHA RAILWAY (C.St.P.M.&O Ry.) by Reed & Barton
Set of 6 Forks (7") in Modern Art Pattern...
With predecessor roots back to 1865, The "Omaha Road" was formed from a group of railroads that came together to make an arc extending from the overland connections at Omaha up to the Twin Cities and back down again to a connection with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway running into Chicago. Above Saint Paul, the Omaha formed an "X" route into upper reaches of Minnesota, with Duluth at the extremes. Falling under control of the Northwestern, but retaining its' own identity into the twentieth century, the Omaha hosted a number of named passengers trains across the home lines including The Northwestern Limited and the "400" (which was named such for travelling 400 miles in 400 minutes in the heated competition with the Burlington Route and the Milwaukee Road). The Omaha shared Modern Art with its' parent company's own marked pieces (C.&N.W. Ry.), probably to maintain a consistency of design as there seems to be only a single joint china pattern at any given time. (CNW may have used additional patterns in services nit concerning the O-Road.) Both roads were standardized in equipment types, even though there was a formal separation of management and accountability, until the Omaha was ultimately dissolved in the diesel-electric era after passenger services had been terminated. It is "Legend" in the territory it served so well.
