The Soo Line's Famous Trains To Canada is a brief history of a small and unique Class 1 railway and its famous Canada-USA tourist trains. Initially chartered in 1883 to serve the needs of local millers in Minneapolis, the Soo would eventually come to join the Canadian Pacific line at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, with service to Montreal. In 1888, Canadian Pacific assumed controlling interest in the Soo Line, providing entry into the lucrative US market and levelling the playing field for the CPR to face the onslaught of ferocious competition from James J. Hill, the infamous American railway baron. The "little railway that could" grew to attain giant-killer status, launching famous passenger trains from Minneapolis and St. Paul, meeting head-on the western expansion of the Great Northern Railway and viable, competitive routes to the Atlantic seaboard. Over the years, the Soo Line introduced thousands of Americans to Montreal and Quebec City, the famous Canadian Rockies resorts, and the city of Vancouver, the home port for CP's Pacific steamship services. The Soo also successfully competed on the Spokane and Portland routes from Minneapolis to the Pacific Northwest. In 1923 the "Soo Mountaineer" was launched, becoming the most famous and longest "two-nation" train journey in North America.

For the first time, a book has been assembled to provide an illustrated overview of the freight equipment used by the Soo Line railroad throughout most of the 1900s and into the early 2000s. This ambitious project contains examples of almost all major freight equipment series acquired by either the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie (Soo Line) or Wisconsin Central after its 1909 lease by the Soo. Featured are the freight equipment, intermodal trailers, and cabooses (some built well before 1909) still in use on the Soo Line and the W.C. at the time of the 1961 merger. Also included is the distinctive and colorful equipment purchased or built by the "new Soo," as well as cars later leased by the Soo Line. The entire 8 1/2" by 11" 152-page book is printed in color, and more than 500 black and white or color photographs are included. Many of these are builder's photos from American Car and Foundry, Pullman Car & Manufacturing Co., Pullman Standard, and the Soo Line Railroad. Photos were provided from collec¬tions of over 80 individuals, museums, and historical society archives. Caption material, section introduc¬tions and sidebars were provided by some of the best-known individuals in their areas of specialization. An introduction covers a brief history of the Soo Line, its relationship with the early Wisconsin Central, its 1961 merger creating the "new Soo," its 1980s acquisitions and spinoffs, and finally, its total absorption by the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1990. Notes on numbering, painting and lettering are also included. Emphasized is the post-1961 merger creating the "New Soo" and its distinctive bold new image, enhanced by its Colormark program. The Soo Line's major shops at Shoreham, MN and Fond du Lac, WI are also discussed. Finally, the Soo Line Historical and Technical Society is highlighted, along with suggested additional reading in terms of books and extensive freight car-related articles from the SOO. The book is dedicated to Guy N. Kieckhefer, whose passion for photographing, researching and documenting Soo Line freight cars provided the basis, inspiration, and much of the content.