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 Map of the Soo Line Railroad. Red lines are former SOO trackage operated by CPKC; dark blue lines are former MILW trackage also now operated by CPKC; green lines are former SOO trackage spun off to WC and now part of CN. Grey lines in North Dakota are operated by Short Lines (DMVW and NPR) and dotted light blue lines are abandoned. | |
 SOO 6062, an EMD SD60M, leads a train through Wisconsin | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Minneapolis, Minnesota[1] |
| Reporting mark | SOO |
| Locale | North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois |
| Dates of operation | 1961– 1990 (as an independent railroad; to present for CP ownership) |
| Successor | Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Soo Line Railroad (reporting mark SOO) is one of the primary United States railroad subsidiaries for the CPKC Railway (reporting mark CPKC), one of six U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM), which was commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of that company with two other CPKC subsidiaries: The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway, and the Wisconsin Central Railway. It is also the successor to other Class I railroads, including the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway (acquired 1982) and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road, acquired at bankruptcy in 1985). On the other hand, a large amount of mileage was spun off in 1987 to Wisconsin Central Ltd., now part of the Canadian National Railway. The Soo Line Railroad and the Delaware and Hudson Railway, CPKC's other major subsidiary (before the 2008 DM&E acquisition), presently do business as the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). Most equipment has been repainted into the CP scheme, but the U.S. Surface Transportation Board groups all of the company's U.S. subsidiaries under the Soo Line name for reporting purposes.[1] The Minneapolis headquarters are in the Canadian Pacific Plaza building, having moved from the nearby Soo Line Building.