http://www.thedieselshop.us/SooLine.HTML
Does anyone has any information on the history?
There’s tons of information on the SOO - have you googled for Soo Line Historical Society? Look also at http://www.walthers.com and do an Advanced Search on books and keyword “SOO”. Barnes & Nobles too has lots of railroad history/picture books.
Are you interested in general history about the Soo Line?
As noted above, the Soo Line has a large and very active Historical Soc. They publish a very good quality magazine and have extensive archives which are currently being moved into a newly purchased building.
http://www.sooline.org/home.html
One of my favorite Soo Line books is “The Little Jewel.” There are at least 8 Soo Line titles on Amazon.com right now.
What about this Soo Line locomotive? That’s the true colors?
Well it was the true colors right after the Soo Line bought the Milwaukee Road. That was the Soo Line answer to repainting. Put a big black square over the words “Milwaukee Road”. Several of these units are still on the system wearing that same paint scheme. Except the black square is starting to wear off and the “Milwaukee Road” is starting to show through again.
Keith
Keith
Thank you for clarifying the question. It does makes sense…
Those ex-MILW patch units were/still are called “bandits”.
Yep. Few of them just down the street from me. Along with the roundhouse and turntable from back in the Soo’s heyday. Lots of “Winnipeger” info. too.
They were also called “rotted [or rotting] pumpkins” – and there are still a few around.
Dave Nelson
http://sooline.dieselrosters.com/ is a very good site for locomotives.
The SOO was absorbed into CP Rail and turned into one of their US components. I remember a quote from one of their presidents that they were proudly a “plain vanilla” railroad, that is they didn’t have anything odd or that wasn’t standard. Don’t know how true it was, just remember that they got rid of the unique MILW SDL39 units because they were abnormal. SOO sold off a large chunk of lines that became Wisconsin Central. Used to see their engines on an intermodal train that ran into Newark, NJ. You know the place Awesome!
Gluefinger, like the name. Reminds me of my days using Krazy glue to bond my fingers together. Not liked it worked too good on anything else.
There’s more than a little irony involved with the Soo Line east of the Twin Cities. Soo was always a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific but this fact was not obvious (contrast with SSW with SP and GTW/CV/DWP with CN). After Soo absorbed the remnants of Milwaukee Road, the original Soo network east of the Twin Cities was sold off as Wisconsin Central, which was eventually purchased by Canadian National.
Did the Soo run into Canada in other areas than Moose Jaw and (I think) Winnipeg? I can’t think of another crossing, anyone know???
Yep - Saulte Ste. Marie (where the “SOO” title came from I believe).
I would think that your pretty close on the Saulte Ste. Marie, since it’s pronounced Soo- Saint Marie. Kinda funny about that too, I was talking with the CN crew (old WC guys) when they came into Eagle Mills the other night they told me the CN bought the WC just for the bridge connection, the CN could care less about hauling ore to Escanaba from Partridge JCT. Oh well I say it’s a shortline waiting to happen.
Before it was the Soo Line RR it was the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie RR. During that era it picked up the nickname “Soo Line”. With the 1961 merger of the M, StP and MStM RR, Wisconsin Central Rwy, and the DSS&A RR, they took the nickname as the official name. Since the MILW acquisition they also reach Canada at Detroit, first via CSX haulage rights and now via NS trackage rights.
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=34722
Was this the only color on cabooses? Does anyone know of any other scheme?
That is the very last paint scheme, only a handful of cars were painted that way. Here is a link to the standard Soo Line Paint scheme, all the modern steel cabooses wore this scheme.
Saulte Ste. Marie…Michigan
Phil
Thanks for the info… but I thought they kept one scheme.