The Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad never ran a train through the Winston Tunnel because the railroad was acquired by another Stickney road, the Chicago, St. Paul, & Kansas City Railway, before the tunnel was completed in January 1888. The total cost of labor and materials for construction of the tunnel was more than $600,000, which exceeded projections. In 1892, the CStP&KC was acquired by yet another Stickney road, the Chicago Great Western Railway.
The CGW was one of the last Class I railroads to be built, it competed against several other more well-established railroads in the same territory, and developed a corporate culture of innovation and efficiency to survive.
It was merged with the Chicago and North Western Railway (CNW) in 1968, which abandoned most of the CGW's trackage.