Old_Soo

Soo Line

The Soo Line was well known for its bright red and white (and clean) engines, and they also had quite a variety of models that they kept in good repair.

New photos are in cells with a darker gray background (Last update August 31, 2012).

Would you like prints of most any of these slides? Go to Desert-Rails.com for details!

	My very first Soo Line photo...Neenah Wisconsin roundhouse May of 1964. Looks like a convention or tour - note the little kids walking on the rails near the open pit!
	It was a fine fall day in Upper Michigan when I got this photo of a Soo Line center cab Baldwin yard engine at St. Ignace, Michigan. September 6, 1965.
	Next spring I got this southbound freight by the Oshkosh station, with one of the old brown/yellow painted F units on the point. May of 1966.
	Here is a classic F7A-B set of Soo Line engines at Neenah, Wisconsin. July 1966.
	Stevens Point used to be a real busy place, and here a set of 4 units is getting ready for a road trip. August of 1966.
	Early morning sun is trying to break through the clouds at Stevens Point on an August of 1966 morning.
	A set of clean GP30's are switching the yard at North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin in August of 1966.
	Early morning in August of 1966 found this eastbound train ready to leave the Gladstone, Michigan yards.
	Here is RS1 106 switching cars in the ex DSS&A yard in Marquette. August of 1966.
	A pair of ex DSS&A Baldwins make a run for the ore dock in downtown Marquette in August of 1966.
	Another ex DSS&A Baldwin in the Marquette, Michigan yard - August 31, 1966.
	Even though it was a howling blizzard, I still shot this photo of an old RS1 switching at Stevens Point on December 28, 1966.
	A classic set of Soo Line F units at the Gladstone, Michigan roundhouse on December 30, 1966.
	Here is some rather new and clean power on a southbound train at Neenah, Wisconsin on April 8, 1967.
	SW-1 320 at Oshkosh, Wisconsin on a cloudy April 8, 1967.
	An old wooden caboose at Gladstone, Michigan on a sunny May 12, 1967.
	Hermansville Station - photo taken May 12, 1967.
	Another wooden caboose at Marquette, Michigan on June 1, 1967.
	This interesting old express reefer is at the freight shed dock in Rhinelander, Wisconsin on Aug. 19, 1967.
	Here is a typical north country train near Rhinelander, Wisconsin on August 19, 1967.
	A nice clean B unit on the turntable at the Rhinelander, Wisconsin roundhouse taken August 19, 1967.
	Here is a local at Tamarack Mills, Mich on June 10, 1969. Once the C&H copper mine closed a few years later, there was little or no business out this way.
	A late afternoon freight is passing the Stevens Point, Wisconsin station on a pleasant July 3, 1969.
	A clean F unit at Gladstone, Michigan on July 12, 1969.
	This was taken at Sault Ste Marie, Michigan in August of 1970.
	On a nice sunny warm July 1982 afternoon I was listening to the local radio station when they had a news flash that "two westbound Soo Line trains had collided head-on near Gilchrist"! I grabbed the cameras, called a friend in Soo, Michigan about it, highballed across the border to pick him up, and then we got to the wreck site not too long before sunset. Here is the first of seven photos taken of this wreck. None of the crew was killed, although a couple did get hurt "joining the birds". Apparently the crew of one of the trains over-ran the meet at Gilchrist. The two totaled units were GP38-2 #4408, and SD40-2 #6600. All 7 photos taken July 12, 1982.
	The trains met on straight track and the force was such that the GP38-2 rode up onto the SD40-2, but didn't fall over!
	Another view of the wreck scene...some of the locals are out looking things over.
	The 4408's fuel tank ruptured and caught fire....diesel fuel burns hot, and I doubt that either of these units were rebuilt, but more likely scrapped on the spot.
	Good thing the crew got out of this cab before impact....
	This was the unit right behind the 4408, and it appears to have suffered minor damage.
	Another view of the wreck scene.

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