Soo

ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.


Yes, it is. The Soo Line is now part of the Canadian Pacific although it remains a legal subsidiary and exists as a paper corporation to meet US Surface Transportation Board requirements. The locomotives went from the familiar red and white scheme to a CP Red scheme with white lettering in the mid 80's. The CP gained full control over the Soo line in 1987 and began repainting the relatively few Soo Line locomotives it wanted to keep and selling off or scrapping the rest. I'm not up in that part of the country but I think there are no more Soo Line locomotives left, even in the all red scheme. I'm sure fans up there will correct me if I'm wrong. :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
i think i've seen Soo loco (white) in or near the inter-modal yard that is just east of o'hare airport. i might be mistaken though, i usualy sleep on the way home.
 


Thanks Jim.

I became a SOO fan when I bought a DCC and sound equipped SD40-2 by Atlas in the red and white SOO colours. At the time, it was 50% off and the only roadname they had left on sale was SOO.

I figured I'd repaint and renumber it but after doing some initial research and realizing that SOO was owned by CP, I decided to keep it and even converted one of my other SD40-2s to the later red SOO colour scheme. A consist with a red/white SOO SD40-2, a red SOO SD40-2 and a red CP SD40-2 looks pretty cool. I'm modeling late 60s to late 80s when the SD40s were king. ;)

That's about the time I learned that GT was part of CN. SO I converted and SD40 to that scheme. I initially thought that I'd only have CN and CP engines on my layout but now I'll have 5 including the Ottawa Central Rail Road (OCRR) which is local shortline very recently bought by CN.

I guess I will eventually purchase or convert a few to Ontario Northland. I like their colour scheme.
 
Bernie, heck, don't stop there. You can also have the Toronto, Hamilton, and Buffalo, the Delaware and Hudson, the Dakota, Minnesota, and Eastern, and the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad. Between the CP and CN, I think Canada now owns about 35% of all railroad miles operated in the US. Guess how many miles of railroad in Canada are owned by US railroads? That's right, zero, except for a few miles at border crossings. The Canadian government has never approved the applications of any US railroad to buy trackage in Canada. Free trade has worked out very well...for Canada. :mad:
 
yes there are a few Soo locos still painted in red and white. they are found mostly in and around yards and dont get out much. Over near Ohare (chicago) there are 2 that i have seen in the last year. even can see an old Milwaukee orange and black switcher with a soo patch under the cab windows
 
railroads bought by CN

I highlighted the names of well known lines


Canadian Government Railways
Intercolonial Railway of Canada
Prince Edward Island Railway
National Transcontinental Railway
Canadian Northern Railway
Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad
Central Vermont Railway
St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway
Grand Trunk Western Railroad
Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroad
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
London and Port Stanley Railway
Newfoundland Railway
Illinois Central Railroad
Wisconsin Central
Algoma Central Railway
Green Bay and Western Railroad
Great Lakes Transportation
Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway
Northern Alberta Railways
Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway
Alberta and Great Waterways Railway
Central Canada Railway
Pembina Valley Railway
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
 
There are still a few "white ghosts" running up here but far and few between these days.
Actually there are some US railroads in Canada, albeit not alot.
A few are BNSF (just south of me and elsewhere) CSX, NS, and even Union Pacific that has track that runs up into BC.
As Jim pointed out the majority are close to the border for the most part, but some do venture further into perogy territory.
Come to think of it there are many American shortlines in the Great White North too, the Hudson Bay Railroad comes to mind as well as the Southern Manitoba Railway who I did some work for.
As for CN owning all those RR's, it's no longer The Canadian National Railway, just CN as the majority of controlling shares are US controlled.
Any employee caught calling CN by its former name is dealt with quite harshly! (believe it or not, I've seen it)
Not alot of happy campers at CN these days tho, that might change once that idiot from the IC is outa there and someone else takes over. (forgot his name )
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I dunno, Rico, it's still listed as the Canadian National Railway Company on the NYSE so they'd better someone over there to change that. ;) The CN now generates 51% of their revenue in the US and only 23% from domestic Canadian traffic. Maybe that's why they want people to use just the intials and forget the "Canadian" part. Their headquarters are still in Montreal and I have to pay Canadian tax on my CNI shares when I sell them. The only reason they theoretically have a majority US ownership of shares is that large institutions which happen to be based in the US are the majority owners of shares. Most of these institiution, like Citigroup, are actually owned either partially by the US government or foreign interests, particularly from the Middle East. So, we have a Canadian company that earns most of it's money in the US, is owned by nominally US institutions, but the real owners are primarily another government or countries like Saudi Arabia. It's all very confusing.
 
last time i was through bensenville i spotted a couple old Soo geeps and the caboose. they usually use the old soo geep (no idea what it is) along with a soo caboose for the local out here too.
 


lmackattack said:
yes there are a few Soo locos still painted in red and white. they are found mostly in and around yards and dont get out much. Over near Ohare (chicago) there are 2 that i have seen in the last year. even can see an old Milwaukee orange and black switcher with a soo patch under the cab windows
Click to expand...

I saw one leading a train on the line along the Mississippi river in the Red Wing area. Even got a picture of the ol' girl.
 
jump in guys...If I recall the CP owned a bunch of short lines, Soo line, Milwaukee road, D&H, and WC How ever some of these companies were later sold to CN...

here is a list I found of subsidiarys they owned
Ontario and Quebec Railway
Toronto Grey and Bruce Railway
Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway
Grand River Railway
Lake Erie and Northern Railway
Quebec Central Railway
Kettle Valley Railway
Kaslo and Slocan Railway
Nakusp and Slocan Railway
Columbia and Kootenay Railway
Soo Line Railroad
St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway
Delaware and Hudson Railway
Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway
Canadian Atlantic Railway
International Railway of Maine
New Brunswick Railway
Dominion Atlantic Railway
 
about 1995 I would often ride my bike to the Soo line/WC/Milwaukee road what ever you wanted to call it line near my house. I remember seeing lots of GP units in white/red on the sidings waiting for the through freight to or from the ohare yard. It was very common to see milwaukee/Soo/WC/and CP power all in one train. Some may say I lie but In 1993-94. I once saw an old Milwaukee F B-unit placed at the rear of the consist. it was the first time I had ever seen a F unit used on a mainline freight. I think it was heading to a scrap yard or something? looked real rusty!
 
Jim, kind of makes your head spin when you get right down to it, don't it? :D
Trent thanx for posting that, I was just going to figure that out!
I have to go into the CPR yard in Winnipeg soon, I'll be sure to take my camera this time!
 


There are still quite a few Soo Line units running around on CP trackage- most of which are based out of Bensenville and St. Paul- which include the remaining GP38-2s, GP40s and MP15ACs (ex-MILW) The SOO SD60s and SD60Ms were put into storage late this summer at various spots, but are all still in Soo paint (save the first order 6000-6020 which were returned on lease a couple years back). There are very few Soo painted SD40-2s left on the system- most were repainted into CP colors or sold, but a handful of 700s and 6600s remain in red/white and candy apple red.
The Soo adopted the Candy Apple Red scheme in 1989- less than a year later the Soo Line's stock was fully acquired by parent Canadian Pacific which had been a long time 56% owner of the Soo. The event you are probably thinking of from 1987, Jim, is when the Soo Line spun off their trunk of original Soo (and some ex-MILW and ex-DSSA) trackage to the Wisconsin Central (which had been operated by the Lake States Transportation, a Soo subsidiary, since February 1986 after the Soo fully merged the MNS and MILW.)
As for units still painted in Soo colors- this is a shot I took of the Portage-Watertown, WI wayfreight last summer at Rio, WI with two Candy Apple Reds for power.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nordique72/2685599809/
As of last month Soo 4444 was once again on this run out of Portage, I'm hoping when I get up there next month I'll be able to shoot some more Soo units.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.




Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)

Back
Top