Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Railway company logo

The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP & SSMRR), until 1944: Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway, called "Soo Line", was an American railway company whose route network mainly opened up the US states of Wisconsin , Minnesota and North Dakota as well as the northern part of Michigan . It has been controlled by the Canadian Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) since its inception . In 1961 the company merged with other CPR railway companies to form Soo Line Railroad .

history

Steam locomotive of the SOO class H-23

In late 1887, the bridge over the Saint Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie finished. Thus, the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railroad represents the connection to the American rail network and the connection to the west for the Canadian Pacific Railway . In early 1888 this company got into financial difficulties, so that the CP ran the risk of the railway company being taken over by its competitors James H. Hill or the Vanderbilt family existed and with it the loss of this market access. In April 1888, Canadian Pacific affiliates Donald Smith and George Stephen acquired Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railroad, Minneapolis and St. Croix Railroad , Minneapolis and Pacific Railroad and Aberdeen, Bismarck and Northwestern Railway . On June 11, 1888, it became Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway merges. Right from the start it was called the "Soo Line", after Sault's pronunciation. In 1890 the Canadian Pacific officially entered and ultimately acquired a share of around 56%.

The Aberdeen, Bismarck and Northwestern Railroad , 1900 the Rice Lake, Dallas and Menomonie Railroad and 1904 the Bismarck, Washburn and Great Falls Railroad were acquired to expand the route network and to prevent the penetration of competing companies .

In 1891 the railway line to Portal (North Dakota) was completed and in 1902 Bismarck (North Dakota) was reached. In 1903 the line to Noyes and on to Winnipeg was built, creating another connection with the CP.

On April 1, 1909, the company acquired 51% of the Wisconsin Central Railway and leased the toilet for 99 years. Since then, the WC has been operated as the "Chicago Division". In 1909/1910 the Cuyuna Iron Range Railway was acquired. On June 30, 1913, the "Soo Line" participated in the Belt Railway of Chicago , a shunting and bypass railway in the Chicago area. On April 1, 1914, the Central Terminal Railway began operating in Chicago. In 1915 the Fairmount and Veblen Railway and the Minnesota Northwestern Electric Railway were acquired. On August 1, 1921, the Wisconsin and Northern Railroad was taken over.

In addition to the various acquisitions, the rail network was also expanded. At the end of 1922, the railway company had around 7,050 km of railway lines (including track usage rights).

The Great Depression and several bad harvests due to several years of drought meant that bankruptcy had to be filed on December 31, 1937. As part of a reorganization, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Rail road.

In 1938 the first diesel locomotive was acquired. The conversion to diesel traction was completed on February 16, 1955. The company was the first large company west of Chicago to complete the conversion.

From 1950 the brand name "Soo Line Railroad" was officially introduced.

As part of the reorganization of its holdings in the United States, the Canadian Pacific merged the company in 1961 with the Wisconsin Central Railroad (jointly owned by CP & MStP & SSM) and the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad (owned by CP) to form the Soo Line Railroad .

passenger traffic

The railway company was mainly active in freight traffic and only had a few long-distance trains on offer.

The Laker was a night train between Chicago and Duluth-Superior. Through cars drove to Minneapolis-St. Paul. The train was discontinued in 1965.

The Winnipeger was a night train between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Winnipeg. This train ran until 1967.

As Soo-Pacific or The Mountaineer , a sleeper connection from Chicago and later from Minneapolis-St. Paul offered to Vancouver . This offer was discontinued in 1960. The Soo Dominion offered in the rest of the time a connection to Saskatchewan, where there was a transition to the CP train The Dominion. This train was discontinued in 1963.

The train service between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie offered until 1959.

Route network

The main line of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad connected the eponymous cities with one another. From Minneapolis the route continued to Portal on the American-Canadian border. Another route to Canada led from Glenwood to Noyes and from there to Winnipeg.

Branch lines connected Bismarck, Whitetail and the northern part of North Dakota to the rail network. The ore city of Duluth was integrated into the network over several routes.

With the acquisition of the Wisconsin Central Railway, the connection from St. Paul to Manitowoc and Chicago was created.

Company headquarters

The company was based in Minneapolis . In 1915 the skyscraper on the corner of Marquette Avenue South and South 5 Street was occupied. The building was named First National Bank-Soo Line Building .

President

literature

  • Wallace W Abbey: The Little Jewel . Pinon Productions, Pueblo, Colorado 1984, ISBN 0-930855-00-0 .
  • Patrick C Dorin: The Soo Line . Superior Publishing Company, Burbank, California 1979, ISBN 0-87564-712-X .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ 2 Sep 1937, Page 15 - Star Tribune at Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019 .