Soo Line - Definition

The Soo Line Railroad (AAR reporting marks SOO), officially known as the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway, is an American railroad that operates in Wisconsin and surrounding states.

In 1985 the Soo Line purchased the Milwaukee Road railroad and attempted to operate it as a wholly-owned subsidiary, the Lake States Transportation Division. This plan didn't work out too well for the Soo; most of LSTD and most of the original Wisconsin Central was sold in 1987 to the newly formed Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation.

The Soo Line is a part of the Canadian Pacific railroad system. 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.

Timeline

• September 29 1883: A consortium of flour mill owners in Minneapolis form the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railway (soon to be called the Soo Line) to build a railroad between its two namesake cities to avoid sending shipments through Chicago, IL.
• 1888: The Canadian Pacific acquires control of the Soo Line, renaming it to the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad.
• 1908: The Soo Line acquires a majority interest in the Wisconsin Central Railway.
• 1960: A new Soo Line railroad is formed through a merger of the original Soo Line, Wisconsin Central Railway and the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic.
• February 21, 1985: The Soo Line obtains a controlling interest in the Milwaukee Road railroad.
• January 1, 1986: The Milwaukee Road railroad is merged into the Soo Line.
• April 4, 1987: The Soo Line railroad announces the sale of its Lake States Transportation Division to private investors, forming the new Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation.

External Links

• Soo Line Historical and Technical Society (http://www.sooline.org)
• Soo Line Online (http://sooline.railfan.net/)