Winter 1997 Issue

IN EVERY ISSUE

Soo News
WC News
Editor's Report
Executive Report
Gallery
Rip Track
Letters
Transfer Table
Less-Than-Carload

STAFF

Editor
Rick Johnson

Associate Editor
Ken Soroos

Associate Editor/Soo News
Jason Korth

Soo News
tom Mastoras

Wiconsin Central News
Galen Fromm

Modeling Editor
Chuck Derus

Contributing Editors
Andy Roth, Guy Kieckhefer, Doug Fleming

Editorial Consultants
Jack Witmer, Gregg Condon

Technical Consultants
Stuart J. Nelson, Wallace W. Abbey

Commercial Accounts
Joe Lallensack

Advertising Manager
Burnell Breaker

Back Issues
John Strenski

Winter 1997 Issue Hightlights

Soo Line's SD40 Locomotives

by Guy N. Kieckhefer and Jason Korth

After 1966, the 3000-h.p. SD40 model became a best seller due to customer demand for higher-horsepower, six-axle locomotives and a delay in the introduction of the SD45 model. When the 3600-h.p. SD45 finally did become available, it quickly outsold the SD40 for a number of years until problems associated with its higher fuel consumption and broken crankshafts dimmed the railroad industry's enthusiasm for the model. EMD designed the SD45 with 3600 horsepower to replace two GP9 or F9 units and marketed the locomotive on that basis. By 1971, its problems had become so well known within the industry that only 136 of the successor SD45-2 models sold after their introduction in 1972.

The GP40 model also sold well after its introduction, but its sales soon fell off because of traction-motor problems and the general slipperiness of high horsepower B-B units when used in general freight service. The GP40 ultimately found its niche powering short, high-speed express and intermodal freight trains, applications where speed was more important than tractive effort.

The Soo Line's approach to the introduction of EMD's new 645-powered diesel locomotive line was typically slow. In March 1967 the railroad took delivery of four GP40s that were numbered into the 732–735 series. Three of these are still on the roster today. The road's next purchase of 645-equipped locomotives came in the form of EMD's 3000-h.p. SD40.

SD40 737 posed for Bob Anderson in Superior on Oct. 24, 1982. By this date, the extra cab windows have been covered up by steel plating, the footboards have been removed, and large handles have been welded to the uncoupling levers to enable operation from the step well. The horn still occupies its original location on the cab, and the small plow has yet to be replaced by the larger version.

In May 1969, the Soo took delivery of its first SD40s, numbered 736–745. EMD delivered these units in the standard red, white and black paint scheme first introduced in 1962. Accessories included small snow plows, strobe beacons, electronic bells, small 3200-gallon fuel tanks, and horns mounted on the sloped portion of the cab roof above the engineer. Other standard Soo accessories common to all of these units included winterization hatches, all-weather cab windows, and stainless-steel step kickplates.

EMD delivered four additional units (746–749) in March 1970. These were identical to the first ten from the 1969 order. The last seven units (750–756) arrived in May 1971 and were also identical to the first two deliveries except for a revised front handrail configuration. The 1970 and 1971 orders also arrived on the Soo in the 1960s red, white and black paint scheme.

All of the Soo's original SD40s had brakewheels mounted on a gearbox on the tip of the long hood. They also had extra cab windows, a feature they would retain throughout the 1970s.

Like most Soo power, the SD40s served systemwide, but generally in North Dakota the units were limited to the Glenwood–Portal main line due to the light trackage found on the branch lines in this region. They were frequently lashed-up with covered wagons throughout their first decade of service until the growing number of GP38-2/SD40-2s eventually allowed retirement of the F-units.

Order Here: SD40 Poster

Because of the generous dimensions of our all-color SD40/SD40-2 poster that accompanies this issue of the SOO, we were unable to bind it directly into the magazine as a set of pages. Rather, we had them folded and inserted with all issues going out to regular paid SLHTS members; this poster is a bonus to all members. If you are not a member of the SLHTS and have purchased this issue of the SOO over the counter, you can still obtain your own SD40/SD40-2 poster, shipped unfolded in a tube.

Plummer Line Remembered

By Dave Umhauer

Nearly a half century ago, my mother took me on a train ride: a 30-mile journey on a backwater Soo Line route. I emerged a railfan from that trip. Now the tracks of that line are being lifted, and I have to pause and take notice in print. I'm speaking of Soo Line's Plummer Line.

The Plummer Line was built in 1909-10 between Moose Lake, Minn., on Soo's Duluth-Glenwood (Minn.) secondary line and Plummer, Minn., on the Winnipeg (Manitoba) main. The 192.6-mile line served as a shortcut for grain destined from the Dakota wheatfields to the head of the Great Lakes at Duluth/Superior, and it was also intended as a means of getting from Duluth/Superior to Winnipeg. The Plummer Line never was a major route, trafficwise, but it did have some points of interest. Bemidji was easily the best-known city on the route.

Plummer Line traffic was highly seasonal, with spring wheat (planted in the spring) moving during the fall months and some Canadian wheat moving whenever Port Arthur (now part of Thunder Bay, Ont.) was too crowded. You'd also find pulpwood in 40-foot gons, Land O' Lakes butter in reefers, and wooden ammunition boxes whenever we fought another war.

At mid-century, local freights 162 and 163 ran three times a week between Superior and Thief River Falls, Minn., via the Plummer Line. The trains left both Superior and Thief River on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and ran as far as Federal Dam, Minn. (143 miles from Duluth and 117 miles from Thief River Falls) before calling it a day. Crews spent the night in an ancient detrucked sleeping car. The presence of two train crews probably doubled the population of Federal Dam on those nights the trains held up there. The next morning, crews swapped trains and headed back from whence they came.

Passenger trains were Nos. 64 and 65, daily-except-Sunday day runs between Duluth and Thief River Falls. Usually, at least during my life time, they consisted of but a single locomotive and combine. The regularly assigned passenger cars were former Chesapeake & Ohio combines, Soo Nos. 396 and 397, formerly of the 401-404 series on the C&O.

Freights were powered by Moguls at the start. In the late steam era, Soo's own Mikados handled almost all of the scheduled freights and the occasional grain Extras. Former Rock Island Mikes saw use on the east end, where ore trains from the Cuyuna Range mines joined the Plummer line at McGregor for the run to Superior. A few ore trains were powered by Soo 4-8-2s.

Into the 1940s, the passenger trains were handled by Americans (4-4-0s), then by Pacifics, especially 2702 and 2703. The 730 would show up on the rare occasions when the trains were fattened by special Pullmans for summer camps around Bemidji and Cass Lake.

When the diesel era rolled in, Alco RS1s-usually Nos. 352 and 353-clad in maroon and cream took over. At one time or another, diesel power consists probably included every type of road unit the Soo had, from three-unit combinations of Fs to single "covered wagons" to the Soo's only SD9 or one of its many Baldwins. Usually one locomotive would suffice, pulling an unbelievably long train, since the tonnage ratings made a single 1500-h.p. locomotive good for over 5,000 tons overall or 11,000 tons downhill Automba to Superior.

Passenger service was cut back to mixed status for a time during the Depression and resumed as "straight" passenger runs early in the 1940s. The last passenger run was on May 17, 1959. Thereafter the only passenger train to pass was the Michigan ArTrain with FP7 502 in June 1975.

Model a Soo Line concrete block pump house

By Don Tank

In the steam era, and well into the diesel age, these small concrete block pump houses dotted the Soo right-of-way. Some were later converted to motorcar sheds, tool houses and other uses after the need for water for steam locomotives passed. I took the original prototype photos at Minot, N. Dak., in 1971, and then put them into a file for further use, or some such procrastination.

The 14 x 14 style turned out to be a fun project, and didn't take too long to complete. The basic building shell was cut from .040" Evergreen styrene, which was overlaid with Holgate & Reynolds HO-1050 cement block secured to the styrene with DAP Weldwood contact cement. (As a side note, the 16 x 24 building looks like it could be the means for covering up the motor on the Atlas turntable instead of the corrugated plastic building supplied with it).

Soo's Pullman-Standard "Jumbo" Covered Hoppers

By Guy N. Kieckhefer

Sometimes momentous change occurs, the significance of which only becomes apparent years later. One such occurrence on the Soo Line was its first purchase of large covered hoppers equipped with trough hatches in September 1964. While the Soo Line received its first cement covered hopper, No. 6901, in August 1940, it was only in 1957 that the Soo began to look at this car type as something more than a 2,000 cubic-foot carrier of cement, roofing granules, sand and similar mineral products and purchased 25 "Jumbo" PS-2 2893 cubic-foot triple covered hoppers.

This order was followed in 1958 by an additional 60 such 2893 cubic-foot covered hoppers. Throwing caution to the winds the Soo in April 1959 purchased 25 even larger 3219 cubic-foot PS-2 triple covered hoppers in the 70085–70109 series from Pullman-Standard, which designated this model as its "Super Jumbo" hopper. Happily, Pullman-Standard soon gave up its "Jumbo" size designations or the later very common 4750 cubic-foot covered hopper would have been designated as being a "Super Super Super Super Super Jumbo" covered hopper. By this time the list of products commonly carried by covered hoppers was rapidly expanding to include bulk commodities such as sugar, flour, dry chemicals, fertilizer, corn, wheat and other grains.

After the 1961 merger, the first Soo covered hopper purchase was for 20 unique 3960/4000 cubic-foot cars in the 70111–70149 series delivered in April 1962 by Ortner Car of Cincinnati for the malt trade. These cars were soon followed in September 1964 by 50 4427 cubic-foot grain hoppers built by Pullman-Standard and equipped for the first time with trough hatches. Numbered in the 70151–70249 series, these covered hoppers were the first modern large capacity covered hoppers bought by the Soo and the precursor of many thousands more to follow.

Home | News | Archives | Events | Publications | Models | Contact | Links | Search
All content ©2008 Soo Line Historical and Technical Society
Last update: April 3, 2008

Direct any questions about this website's content or function to the webmaster.