Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad
The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (reporting mark SOO) was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwest U.S. Commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was merged with several other major CP subsidiaries on January 1, 1961 to form the Soo Line Railroad. As time passes, more and more Soo Line equipment is being repainted into the Canadian Pacific's current paint scheme, slowly erasing the Soo's identity as a subsidiary railroad.
Passenger service
The Soo Line was never a major carrier of passenger traffic since its route between Chicago and Minneapolis was much longer than the competing Milwaukee Road, Chicago and North Western and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad railroads. The Soo Line also had no direct access to Milwaukee.
The primary trains operated by the Soo were:
- The Laker which operated an overnight service from Chicago's Grand Central Station to Duluth-Superior with a portion to Minneapolis-St. Paul. An additional portion served Ashland, Wisconsin until January 1959. The Laker was discontinued completely on January 15, 1965.
- The Winnipeger which operated an overnight Minneapolis-St. Paul to Winnipeg, Manitoba service. It was discontinued in March 1967.[1]
- A Minneapolis-St. Paul to western Canada service. During the 1920s and 1930s the Soo Line operated the Soo-Pacific, a summer only Chicago to Vancouver service with the Canadian Pacific Railway. This later became The Mountaineer, which was then reduced to Minneapolis-St. Paul to Vancouver, before being discontinued in early August 1960. The Mountaineer was a summer season only train, that carried exclusively sleeping cars but no coaches.[2] During the non-summer months, the train ran as the Soo-Dominion from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where it was combined into Canadian Pacific Railway's The Dominion transcontinental passenger train. It was cut back to a Saint Paul to Portal, North Dakota run after CP discontinued passenger service to Portal at the end of 1960,[2] before being discontinued entirely in December 1963.[1]
- A Minneapolis-St. Paul to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan overnight train. Discontinued March 1959.
Additionally, local trains served Chicago to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Duluth-Superior to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Duluth to Thief River Falls, Minnesota, and some summer-only services which relieved The Mountaineer of the local work along its route.
Presidents
The Presidents of the Soo Line were[3]:
- William D. Washburn, 1883–1889.
- Thomas Lowry, 1889–1890, 1892–1909.
- F. N. Finney, 1890–1892.
- Edmund Pennington, 1909–1922.
- G. R. Huntingdon, 1922–1923.
- C. T. Jaffray, 1924–1937.
- G. W. Webster, 1937–1944.
- H. C. Grout, 1944–1949.
- G. Allen MacNamara, 1950–1960.
Timeline
- September 29, 1883: A consortium of flour mill owners in Minneapolis form the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railway to build a railroad between its two namesake cities to avoid sending shipments through Chicago.
- June 11, 1888: The Canadian Pacific Railway acquires control of the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railway, consolidating it with the Minneapolis and Pacific Railway, Minneapolis and St. Croix Railway, and Aberdeen, Bismarck and North Western Railway to form the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway.
- 1904: The Soo Line acquires the Bismarck, Washburn and Great Falls Railway.[4]
- 1908: The Soo Line acquires a majority interest in the Wisconsin Central Railway, and obtains a 99-year lease of the property in 1909.
- 1910: The Soo line acquires the Cuyuna Iron Range Railway.
- 1913: The Soo Line acquires the Minnesota Northwestern Electric Railway and the Fairmount and Veblen Railway.
- 1921: The Soo Line acquires the Wisconsin and Northern Railroad.
- 1932: The Wisconsin Central Railway enters receivership.
- December 31, 1937: The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway files for bankruptcy.
- 1944: The Wisconsin Central Railway enters bankruptcy.
- September 1, 1944: The Soo Line reorganization takes effect, emerging as the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad.
- 1953: The Valley City Street and Interuban Railway is sold to the Soo Line.
- 1954: The Wisconsin Central emerges from its bankruptcy as the Wisconsin Central Railroad.
- January 1, 1961: The Soo Line Railroad is formed through a merger of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad, Wisconsin Central Railroad, and Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad.
Locomotives
Preservation
A number of the railroad's rolling stock has been preserved in museums across America, some in operational condition. Some of the more notable equipment is:
Steam locomotives
Diesel locomotives
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Abbey, Wallace W (1984). The Little Jewel. Pueblo, Colorado: Pinon Productions. ISBN 0-930855-00-0. LCCN 84-14873.
- Dorin, Patrick C (1979). The Soo Line. Burbank, California: Superior Publishing Company. ISBN 0-87564-712-X. LCCN 79-12204.
- Gilchinski, Steve (February 1997). "Soo Line 2-8-2 back in steam". Trains magazine 57 (2): 24–25.
- Gjevre, John A. (1990) [1973]. Saga of the Soo, west from Shoreham (second ed.). Morehead, Minnesota: Gjevre Books. LCCN 90-90283.
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