Spring 2000 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

Spring 2000 Issue Hightlights

Soo Line baggage cars

By Patrick C. Droin and Fred Headon

Soo Line baggage cars, number series 631 to 638, were purchased from the Lehigh Valley Railroad in December, 1938. The cars were constructed by the Lehigh Valley at its South Bethlehem Shops (Pennsylvania) in October 1912. Thus the cars had 26 years of service by the time of their purchase by the Soo, launching a new "head-end" traffic career for these cars on a midwestern railroad.

The Soo Line operated these cars system-wide for baggage, express, and mail storage service. The eight cars were built with narrow letter boards and two widely-spaced 5'-6" doors on each side of the car, giving them a unique appearance among Soo Line head-end equipment. Cars 631­633 had five paired ceiling oil lamps as indicated by ten small T-shaped roof vents. Cars 634­638 had four ceiling electric lights. The cars had a carrying capacity of 85,500 pounds. The 631­638 series was renumbered 31­38 during the last days of passenger train operation in the 1960s. Some of the cars spent their last operating days in mail storage service on The Laker. After The Laker's discontinuance, Soo passenger train operations became more and more limited to the lines west of the Twin Cities. However, these baggage cars had provided service for over 50 years on the Lehigh Valley and the Soo Line railroads.

Soo Line's intermodal service

by George A. Forero Jr., Rick Johnson, and Guy N. Kieckhefer

To compete with a growing trucking industry, the Soo Line began intermodal operations March 1, 1955, with less-than-carload (LCL) service, then known as "rail-van" service, between Neenah-Menasha, Appleton, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Four 52'-6" flatcars were rebuilt for the new service, equipped with rails, hitches, and tie-downs to carry two 25-foot trailers.

On November 15, 1956, the Soo Line added piggyback service between Minneapolis and Chicago, and between Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, and Chicago. Twenty five trailers were leased and additional flatcars were rebuilt for this service. Plans were drawn to add service between Stevens Point and Chicago, and between Wisconsin Rapids, Port Edwards, Nekoosa, and Chicago.

The rail-van service, then just being dubbed "piggyback" service, was extended on June 1, 1959, to operate between Duluth-Superior and Chicago and between Duluth-Superior and the Twin Cities.
As of spring 1961, there were six trailer ramps in service on the Soo Line. A year later, that number had risen to fifteen: Chicago, Fond du Lac, Neenah, Stevens Point, Marshfield, Chippewa Falls, Barron, Minneapolis, Superior, Devils Lake, Minot, Bismarck, Valley City (North Dakota), Thief River Falls, Baraga, and Ironwood.
At one time or another during the 1970s, all Soo Line piggyback facilities used ramps, either fixed or portable.

The accident streak of 1947

Nine wrecks in four months wreak havoc on the Soo west of Shoreham

By Les Kruta

August through November of 1947 seemed to be bad months for the Soo Line in an area from St. Paul west. Nine accidents (that I know of) happened during that time.

Friday, August 1: Derailment of no. 216 on the Drake Line near Comstock, N. Dak. (see the SOO, January 1986). The conductor, baggageman and an elderly woman were injured.

Wednesday, August 6: Eleven carloads of creosoted REA poles, which had just been unloaded at Ottertail, Minn., burned when set afire by a Soo Line weedburner. Valiant efforts by the Ottertail and Henning fire departments saved the depot, which was just 75 feet away.

50 years ago in the Soo-Liner

Reprinted from the Soo Line's employee magazine from 1950, with additional photos from the SLHTS Archives

Edited by Ken Soroos

Power on the Soo Line and effort to improve efficiency

In 1885, a friend wrote to William D. Washburn, the first president of the Soo Line, saying in part, "All the progress made by the inventive genius of our civilized age in railroad building, material and equipment - the present heavy engines and cars-all this has been going on for many, many years." At the time this was written railroads had been in operation only a little more than 50 years during which time, it is true, really great advancements had been made. Some of the railroads, the very early ones, had changed rails several times, discarding strap rail for imported cast iron and then laying light steel. A number of small roads had merged into systems. All roads had adopted a standard gauge for quicker interchange of traffic, and standard time for more uniform and dependable operation, while the locomotives and cars of 1885 were as noticeably different from those of 50 years earlier as present day equipment is, when compared to that in common usage in the day of Mr. Washburn's friend. In his observation of "All the progress made" he was right, because long before 1885 railroad management had learned that bigger, heavily loaded cars supported by adequate rails and road beds was the answer to increased net operating revenues. The quest for proper balance of operation to insure the greatest return in earnings has been going on constantly since the first road was built and the railroads of today together with railroad equipment manufacturers are continuing the competition of mind over matter to further increase efflciency of operation.

The Soo Line had 46 miles of road in 1885 and was constructing 22 miles in that year. They were building a good road bed and their first locomotives, Rhode Island 4-4-0s were the "heavy engines" referred to by the writer of 1885. They were wood burners built so they could easily be converted to coal. This forward thinking was also reflected in the portion of road finished in 1886 which was said to be, "As fine a line of railroad as was ever constructed in the State of Wisconsin." The thinking and planning of President Washburn, Chief Engineer Rich's construction, operation by such men as Fred Underwood, the road's first General Manager and of Dan Willard one of the road's first locomotive engineers, Trainmaster and Superintendent, with their advanced ideas of railroading, started the Soo Line seeking the ultimate in railroad operating perfection.

The future business sighted by the Soo Line's management in 1886, a year before the first portion of the road to Sault Ste. Marie was completed, prompted the purchase of 1,000 cars of 50,000-lb. capacity, which was 10,000 lbs. greater than the average of that day. The hauling capacity of the original Rhode Islands was only a tender, 18 boxcars loaded with flour, and a caboose. Tonnage available to the Soo Line in its early days was so great, particularly between Minneapolis and Gladstone, Mich., that power to move it became a demand, not only for more power but for heavier power. It caused the original portion of the line, Minneapolis to Sault Ste. Marie, to be relaid with 80 lb. rail within a short time after its construction.

Modeler's Roundtable

Improving the SLHTS 7-post boxcar model

By Chuck Derus

The Soo Line seven-post boxcar model custom manufactured for the SLHTS by Accurail is a terrific product for post-1964 Soo modelers. The cars are very close for the 1968 and 1970 cars. Hands down, it beats any other manufacturer's 50-foot boxcar in terms of major spotting features and lettering for the Fond du Lac-built Soo cars.

Like all models, there are compromises. As much as everyone involved wanted a perfect model, the cost was far more than our group could afford. It was feasible, however, to produce the model by limiting new die work to a custom mold insert for the sides, using existing Accurail tooling for the ends, roof, bottom sill and underframe, and using a commercially-available plug door. For most modelers, out-of-the-box is "close enough" and a vast improvement over any other model. For the more adventuresome, a few modifications can tweak the appearance even closer to the prototype cars.

I have arbitrarily grouped the modifications into three levels based on perceived difficulty. The first level involves more closely matching the model to any series car. The second level involves using undecorated cars to model car series other than the 1968 and 1970 decorated cars done by the society. Doug Fleming, Bob Rivard, Joe Avezzano and I based these modifications on our adventures with both undecorated and decorated cars.

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