Manuscripts Collection
The Soo Line Railroad Company is the principal subsidiary of Soo Line Corp., a holding company involved in transportation and related real estate. Canadian Pacific Limited, a transportation, resource development, and manufacturing company with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, in 1990 owned virtually 100% of the common stock of Soo Line Corp. Canadian Pacific interests have controlled the Soo Line and its predecessors since 1888. The M.St.P.&S.S.M. was popularly known as the "Soo Line" for many years prior to the formal adoption of the name in 1961, and this is reflected in the organization of the collection. In 1992 the Soo Line was one of three constituent railroad companies comprising the CP Rail System. In that year use of the name "Soo Line" was discontinued in favor of "CP Rail System" for most purposes.
The idea behind the formation of what became the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company (M.St.P.&S.S.M.) was the desire of Minneapolis grain milling interests to have a route to eastern markets independent of the railroads operating between Minneapolis and Chicago, and of James J. Hill's railroad and steamship lines operating to and out of Duluth-Superior. A second objective was to construct a line west of Minneapolis into Dakota Territory, in order to assure the millers of a secure source of hard spring wheat for themselves independent of Hill and his railroad.
The Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railway Company was organized and incorporated by William Drew Washburn, Thomas Lowry, Clinton Morrison, C. M. Loring, W. W. Eastman, Charles Pillsbury, and others in September, 1883, to construct a line from Minneapolis through Wisconsin to Sault Ste. Marie. The first train left Minneapolis for Sault Ste. Marie in January, 1888. The Minneapolis and Pacific Railway Company was chartered in 1884 to build westward and by 1886 had reached into Dakota Territory. The first board of directors included W. D. Washburn and Thomas Lowry. Two other lines, the Aberdeen, Bismarck and Northwestern (which Lowry controlled by 1888) and the Minneapolis and St. Croix railway companies were also controlled by the milling interests and were component parts of the developing rail system.
Later in the 1880s the millers needed additional financing for both construction and operational purposes. They were able to get it from financiers associated with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, Montreal, who thereby gained controlling interest in the four small lines. They demanded as a condition the consolidation of the four lines into the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste Marie Railway Company (M.St.P.&S.S.M.). Thomas Lowry was the first president of the new 781-mile line, and the Canadian Pacific owned more than half of the stock. The Canadian Pacific also purchased the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway Company in 1888, giving them an entry into Duluth.
The M.St.P.&S.S.M. was formed with the June 11, 1888 consolidation of the Minneapolis & St. Croix Railway Company; the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railway Company; the Minneapolis & Pacific Railway Company; and the Aberdeen, Bismarck & Northwestern Railway Company. Its earliest predecessor, the Ordway, Bismarck and Northwestern Railway Company (a forerunner of the Aberdeen, Bismarck and Northwestern), was incorporated May 31, 1883. Parties to the articles of consolidation included Washburn, J. M. Robinson, and E. P. Wells, presidents of the consolidating roads. The line reached Duluth in 1911. It reached Portal, North Dakota and Noyes, Minnesota in 1904, in both places making connections with the Canadian Pacific, The line operated in Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Montana, and owned trackage in Wisconsin as well.
The M.St.P.&S.S.M. filed for bankruptcy on December 31, 1937. The company was reorganized as the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad Company, effective September 1, 1944. In 1961 the railroad merged with the Wisconsin Central and the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic railroad companies to create the Soo Line Railroad Company. Soo Line Corp., a holding company controlling the Soo Line Railroad, was formed in 1984. The Soo Line purchased the bankrupt Milwaukee Road in February 1985; the Milwaukee was merged into the Soo in early 1986. The Soo sold its Lake States Transportation Division to Wisconsin Central, Ltd., in 1987.
In 1992 the name "Soo Line" was dropped in favor of "CP Rail System," an umbrella designation that, besides the Soo, included CP Rail and the Delaware and Hudson Railway and under which the Soo operated as the "Heavy Haul - US" business unit.
For most of its existence the Soo Line system consisted of line in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Peninsula Michigan, with short sections of track in Montana, South Dakota, and Illinois. The system stretched from northeastern Montana to the Twin Ports and the Twin Cities, and from there to Chicago and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. With the Milwaukee Road came lines to Kansas City, Missouri, and Louisville, Kentucky; a new main line between St. Paul and Chicago; trackage in Iowa and Indiana; and additional line in Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. The sale of Lake States included most of the company's original line in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.
In 1990, after the acquisition of the Milwaukee Road and the sale of Lake States, the Soo Line consisted of a 3,450-mile core system and 2,350 miles of feeder lines. It had three Canadian gateways: Portal, Noyes, and Detroit (under an agreement with CSX).
The Soo Line west of Minneapolis has traditionally been agriculturally oriented, essentially a grain gathering system. East of Minneapolis it was more industrially oriented and, in particular, a transporter of forest and paper industry products. Most of the lines carrying forest and paper products, however, are now owned by Wisconsin Central, Ltd. In 1958 the line's revenue from carload freight traffic, by commodity groups, consisted of products of agriculture (36.96%), animals and animal products (1.99%), products of mines (10.83%), products of forests (19.02%), and manufactures and miscellaneous commodities (31.2%).
The M.St.P.&S.S.M. was popularly known as "the Soo line" long before the 1961 when the name officially came into existence, and the cataloger has accordingly used the two corporate names almost interchangeably. The series within this record group include both pre- and post-merger records, as the three companies comprising the Soo Line were essentially operated as one long prior to the merger.
The Wisconsin Central Railroad Company was formed in 1871 with the consolidation of three smaller railroad companies: the Winnebago and Lake Superior, the Portage and Superior, and the Portage, Stevens Point and Superior. The Wisconsin Central was the brainchild of promoters Judge George Reed of Manitowoc and Menasha, his brother Curtis Reed of Menasha, and Matt Wadleigh of Stevens Point. The new line was a land grant railroad. A number of other small lines were brought into the Wisconsin Central through consolidation and purchase over the years.
Construction began in June, 1871 at West Menasha and was completed to Waupaca by October of that year. The route between Stevens Point and Ashland was completed in 1877, and by June of that year trains were running from Ashland Milwaukee (part of the way over the rails of other companies). In 1880 entry made into the Twin Cities (also part of the way over other companies' rails). Wisconsin Central completed its own line into the Twin Cities in 1884, and in Chicago in 1886. In 1909 Wisconsin Central rails reached Duluth.
From 1890 to 1893 the Wisconsin Central was leased to the Northern Pacific.
In 1897 the name of the line became the Wisconsin Central Railway Company, apparently following a reorganization.
The Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company (M.St.P.&S.S.M.) ("Soo line") acquired majority ownership of the outstanding Wisconsin Central capital stock in 1908. The M.St.P.&S.S.M. leased and operated the Wisconsin Central from 1909 until 1961. During this time the property of the Wisconsin Central was operated as a separate corporation, and served essentially as the Wisconsin component of the M.St.P.&S.S.M. The company went into receivership in 1932, and into bankruptcy in 1944. It emerged in 1954 as the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company.
In 1961 the Wisconsin Central merged with the M.St.P.&S.S.M. and the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic to form the Soo Line Railroad Company.
In 1986 the Soo Line set up Lake States Transportation Division, a semi-autonomous, semi-regional 2,002-mile railroad under its control composed of most of its lines in Wisconsin and upper Michigan. Lake States was sold in 1987 to Wisconsin Central, Ltd., a group of current and former Midwestern railroaders and investors.
In 1958 revenue from carload freight traffic by commodity groups consisted of agricultural products (13.29%), animals and animal products (4.97%), products of mines (12.41%), forest products (14.21%), and manufactures and miscellaneous commodities (55.12%). The company maintained repair shops and stores facilities at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. It was part owner of the Packers Car Line Company and the Belt Railway Company of Chicago. The Wisconsin Central served the Gogebic Iron Ore Range, and owned an iron ore dock at Ashland, Wisconsin.
The Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway Company (DSS&A) was formed in an 1886 consolidation of four lines: the Sault Ste. Marie & Marquette Railroad Company, the Duluth Superior & Michigan Railway Company, the Wisconsin, Sault Ste. Marie & Mackinac Railway Company, and the Mackinaw & Marquette Railroad Company. The consolidation resulted in the establishment of a continuous rail line from Sault Ste. Marie and St. Ignace, Michigan to Superior, Wisconsin. The DSS&A was incorporated in both Michigan and Wisconsin in 1887. The first board of directors consisted of Columbus R. Cummings, James McMillan, George I. Seney, Norman B. Ream, Calvin S. Brice, August D. Jouillard, and Hugh McMillan. A number of other small Michigan lines were ultimately brought into the DSS&A fold through consolidation and purchase, the earliest of these dating back to 1855. The DSS&A was the Michigan component of the M.St.P.&S.S.M. system.
The Canadian Pacific Railway Company purchased the 526-mile DSS&A in 1888. The DSS&A went into bankruptcy in 1937, emerging in 1949 as the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad. In 1961 the DSS&A merged with the M.St.P.&S.S.M. and the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company to form the Soo Line Railroad Company. In later years DSS&A executive offices were at Minneapolis, and its main operating offices at Marquette, Michigan, where it also maintained repair shops, stores, and other facilities.
Key subsidiary and related companies included the Mineral Range Railroad Company and the Sainte Marie Union Depot Company (see Branch Lines record group for records of these companies). The DSS&A was part owner of the Lake Superior Terminal and Transfer Railway Company, the Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Company, and the Mackinac Transportation Company. It operated a joint terminal at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, on behalf of itself and the M.St.P.&S.S.M, and was the owner of an ore dock at Marquette, Michigan. The line served the Marquette Iron Ore Range. In 1958 revenue from carload freight traffic commodity groups consisted of products of agriculture (4.59%), animals and animal products (1.12%), products of mines (19.27%), products of forests (28.49%), and manufactures and miscellaneous commodities (46.53%).
The former DSS&A trackage was apparently all included in the 1987 sale of Lake States Transportation Division to Wisconsin Central, Ltd.
The material consists mainly of subject files, as well as minutes and corporate record books. The largest records subgroup, comprising more than one-third of the entire collection, is that of the Soo Line's Vice President-Accounting.
Also included are subject files from several staff and operating departments; directors', stockholders', and executive committee minutes; annual reports to government agencies; maps and structural drawings; corporate record books; stock certificates and transfer records; news clippings; timetables; videocassettes; and photographs. There is much financial and accounting information, as well as information about routine operations and management. There is information about receiverships, bankruptcies, and reorganizations, and material relating to railroad mergers and acquisitions, including the 1961 merger creating the Soo Line, and the Soo's 1985 acquisition of the Milwaukee Road.
The collection is divided into four major record groups:
Annual reports to stockholders, company newsletters, miscellaneous printed items, and Soo-related books are cataloged separately in the Minnesota Historical Society library.
Records of the Milwaukee Road, acquired by the Soo Line in 1985, are at the Milwaukee Public Library, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Part of this collection is located off site in Remote Storage.
Access to records less than 25 years old requires written permission.
Please consult the reference satff for more information.
Quotation or publication, beyond fair use provisions of the copyright law, from records less than 25 years old requires written permission. Please consult the reference satff for more information.
Accession numbers: 11,846; 12,055; 12,141; 14,397; 14,520; 14,802; 14,866; 14,877; 15,007; 16,780; 17,103
The bulk of the collection was received from the Soo Line Railroad Company in 1990 and 1991. A previously cataloged collection of Soo Line Records (12.75 cubic feet), which was received from 1975 to 1977 primarily from James W. Lydon, was incorporated into the newer material (much of it into the Soo Line Public Relations Department record series). A small group of material (1 cubic feet) was received from Lawrence W. Harrington, a Soo Line vice president, and was interfiled in various places throughout the collection. Small additions have been received from the company periodically; this incrementation is expected to continue.
Processed by: David B. Peterson, August 1991; May 1995
Additions: February 2013; June 2016
Catalog ID number: 001714541
Includes two sets of president's subject files, and files of three assistants to the president.
Numerically Coded Subject Files relate primarily to routine operational, financial, and personnel matters. There is information about the 1961 merger that created the Soo Line out of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, the Wisconsin Central, and the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic railroads, about dealings with other railroad companies, and about organizations such as the Association of American Railroads and the Western Association of Railway Executives.
Miscellaneous subject files include information about terminal facilities at Chicago, the 1961 merger, and the Wisconsin Central (1890s-1930s).
Records of presidential assistants Thomas M. Beckley, Laurence V. Johnson, and J. D. Darling include files relating to proposed and/or actual railroad mergers (1960s-1970s) involving or affecting the Soo Line; information about the Minneapolis Northfield & Southern Railway (MN&S) (1957-1961) and the proposed merger of the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy lines (1961-1962); and information about the Soo Line's acquisition of the Milwaukee Road and the MN&S (1980s), and its interest in the disposition of the bankrupt Rock Island Line (1980s).
Miscellaneous subject files kept primarily by G. W. Webster who served as executive vice president from ca. 1922 to ca. 1936. There is information about Soo mortgage bonds (1920s-1930s), banks, the payment of taxes, and various other financial matters. There is also information about real estate, the Interstate Commerce Commission, and a number of Soo-related companies. Most of the material dates from the 1920s and 1930s.
Minutes and related records include minutes of meetings of the board of directors, the executive committee, voting trustees, and stockholders (1940s-1960s).
Miscellaneous subject files include information about the 1888 consolidation that created the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company. There is a set of "bankruptcy" files with an accompanying card index (1930s-1940s), and files related to the reorganization of the company (1940s); information about the history of the corporation, including charts and an unpublished manuscript; and material related to stock and to stockholders. The files include a considerable amount of other financial information. Annual reports to stockholders are in the Minnesota Historical Society reference library.
See Traffic Box 6.
See Miscellaneous Departments, box 2.
Records of the Vice President-Accounting comprise the largest record unit in the Soo Line collection. There are ten series.
The numerically coded Comptroller's general file (1870s-1980s) contains financial information and statements, information about mortgage bonds, freight rates and tariffs, equipment trusts, the abandonment and/or establishment of train service, union matters and agreements, and the automation of accounting. There is information about the reorganization of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad Company (M.St.P.&S.S.M.) (1930s-1950s), and the reorganization of the Wisconsin Central (1940s-1950s). There are working papers and background files used in the preparation of Soo Line, Wisconsin Central, and Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic (DSS&A) annual reports to stockholders. There is information about various related companies, particularly the Wisconsin Central and the DSS&A.
Miscellaneous Subject Files include comparative financial statements (1957-1960), Wisconsin Central statements of account (1930s-1950s), and information about matters pending before the Interstate Commerce Commission (1940s-1960s). There is a group of files related to a proposed merger of the M.St.P.&S.S.M. and the DSS&A (1950s). There are also two indexes to an unknown set of comptroller's files.
Other series include Abandonment files (1970s); Annual reports to government agencies prepared for the Interstate Commerce Commission and for state regulatory officials; files related to the Burlington Northern-Frisco merger (1975-1980); a Daily file (1964-1979), which consists mostly of copies of outgoing letters of the Vice President-Accounting; and two boxes containing various kinds of Financial Statements (1956-1980). General file (1960s-1970s) includes information about various financial and accounting matters, the shipment of commodities (grain, iron ore, limestone, pulpwood, wood pulp), and intermodal service (TOFC: trailer on flat car). There is a set of Merger files (Soo-Wisconsin Central-DSS&A), including studies, reports, and exhibit files. There is also a set of Station closing files (1950s-1960s).
See also 144-4.
See also 40-9-a.
See also 21-b.
Includes some 160-1.
Outgoing letters of the Vice President - Accounting.
Includes Soo Line Railroad, Soo Line Equipment Company, and Tri-State Land Company.
Originals in Comptroller File 40-2.
File from Irv Fardel.
Records of the Vice President - Operations and Maintenance include both numerically coded and alphabetically ordered subject files. There is information about the Soo-owned Shoreham (Minneapolis) and Schiller Park (Chicago area) classification yards, Interstate Commerce Commission valuations (1916, 1928), and a proposed merger of the Soo Line and the Chicago Great Western (1962-1963). There are three Investigation Registers (1951-1963), Operating Rules and Instructions booklets (1890s-1950s), miscellaneous labor schedules (1910s-1950s), and some structural drawings.
A box of files of the Chief Operating Officer is concerned with operations at Milwaukee and arrangements there between the Wisconsin Central and the Milwaukee Road (1920s-1930s).
Records of the General Manager/General Superintendent contain information
about spur tracks and branch lines, grade crossings, bridges, stockyards,
and changes in service at stations (1930s-1960s). There are two folders of
monthly accident reports (1959-1961), a letterpress book containing letters
of the General Manager (1882-1887) and a scrapbook (1889-1943) copied by
General Superintendent Charles L. Simpson that contains newspaper clippings,
printed items, photographs, rail passes, and some miscellaneous
correspondence. Files of the
Includes BN and Milwaukee Road.
Docket registers (1886-1946) contain information about litigation in which the company was involved, including the names of plaintiffs and defendants, statements describing the nature of the actions, and information about the progress of each case in the courts and the decisions reached.
The Henry S. Mitchell files are mostly concerned with the reorganization of the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic (1930s-1940s) and of the Wisconsin Central (1930s-1950s). These files include such items as legal briefs, correspondence, reports, and plans of reorganization. Mitchell was Canadian Pacific counsel in Minneapolis.
Vice President-Traffic: Acquisition and merger files contain information about bids by both the Chicago & North Western and Grand Trunk Corp. for the Milwaukee Road (1982-1984), possible acquisition of at least part of the Rock Island by the Soo (1982), and the Soo's acquisition of the Milwaukee Road (1983-1984).
Miscellaneous subject files include marketing team reports (1960s), miscellaneous public and private time tables (1890s-1990), miscellaneous traffic agreements (1880s-1890s, 1944), freight revenue statistics (1950s), and a few internal newsletters. There is information about tariffs, and there is a large volume containing a record of freight received at Dallas, Wisconsin (1902-1903).
Maps include Soo Line route maps, Milwaukee Road maps, and three folders of Northern Pacific Railway Company maps. There is also a chart giving Soo Line traffic and mileage statistics (1928-1956).
Housed with the maps are structural drawings, large photographs, corporate history charts, and other oversize items from some other Soo Line departments, which are also listed in their respective record series. There are also some oversize Wisconsin Central timetables and route maps.
Miscellaneous subject files include clippings (1984-1990), some photographs, brochures (1902-1960), and memorabilia (1888-1959) from the General Passenger Department, as well as several promotional and other VHS videocassettes (1980s).
Miscellaneous Advertising Department files seem to be a remnant or a small part of a file series that apparently was saved or removed by James W. Lydon, who at one time was evidently an advertising manager for the Soo Line. Included in these files is information about and photographs of the Milwaukee Road depot at Minneapolis (1939-1940).
The James W. Lydon Files contain information about the history of the Soo Line, and include two drafts of an undated typewritten manuscript, historical summaries, clippings (1883-1973), and background information. There are also some correspondence (1940-1975) and speech files (1944-1960).
Photograph files include images of depots (1880s-1950s), locomotives and cars (1880s-1970s), employees (1900s-1950s), destruction caused by a tornado at Shoreham (1941), and train wrecks (1900s-1950s). There are some rolled photographs that need conservation work. Most of the material in this series is from the previously cataloged collection of Soo Line records.
Includes information about corporate name change from "Soo Line" to "CP Rail System" and Soo's new designation as "Heavy Haul-U S."
Includes scripbooks, tickets, freight bills, wax seals, blank forms, and correspondence--some marked "A-169."
Also includes an 1883 article from
Personnel Department: Miscellaneous subject files include some biographical information about Soo Line employees (1890s-1960s), miscellaneous collective labor agreements (1920s-1960s), a few manuals, some miscellaneous internal newsletters, and files related to various Soo Line employees' associations (1910s-1930s). There is a set of corporate organization charts (1980-1992), and a deposition given by Soo Line official Lawrence W. Harrington concerning his role in downsizing the company's work force following the merger with the Milwaukee Road. Miscellaneous Milwaukee Road records include condensed track profiles for the line's Northern and Southern Divisions (ca. 1981-ca. 1992). (Milwaukee Road route maps are found in the Soo Line Traffic Department Records.) This set of files was brought together by the cataloger.
Miscellaneous oversize items include material from the Secretary's Office, the and the Traffic Department. These items are also listed in their respective record series.
Includes subject files, files of receiver and general manager Henry F. Whitcomb, and a set of trustees' files related to the 1930s-1950s receivership and reorganization of the company.
Miscellaneous subject files contain correspondence and papers, leases, and blueprint maps related to terminal facilities at Chicago. There are also files related to predecessor and subsidiary companies (1880s-1920s), which include leases, mortgages, deeds, and other documents. This group of records was brought together by the cataloger.
The Henry F. Whitcomb files (1894-1906) consist of a handful of folders that evidently once formed a part of a much larger set of records. These include information about land grants and various operational, mechanical, and other matters. Whitcomb served as receiver and general manager in the 1890s, and as president in the early 1900s.
Trustees-Reorganization files include correspondence of Edgar F. Zelle (trustee) and R. R. Galligan (auditor for the trustee) and attorneys and bondholders. There are mimeographed orders, reports, and other documents from the Interstate Commerce Commission, and decisions, orders, petitions, and similar documents from U.S. District Court. There is a considerable amount of information about bonds and the concerns of bondholders.
Consolidation of Wisconsin Central, Minnesota; St. Croix & Wisconsin; Penokee; Packwaukee & Montello; Wisconsin & Minnesota; St. Paul & St. Croix Falls.
Annual reports to government agencies include reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission (1943-1960) and to state regulatory agencies (railroad and warehouse commissions, tax commissions, public service commissions) in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (1870s-1950s).
Alphabetically ordered R. R. Galligan files (Vice President-Accounts in the 1950s) contain information about routine financial and accounting matters, the cremation of bonds, equipment purchases, rents, and trusts, and about dealings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the First National Bank of Minneapolis.
Minutes and related records, miscellaneous subject files, and "vault files" pertaining to the Wisconsin Central and to miscellaneous related companies.
Minutes and related records of the board of directors (1899-1960), the executive committee (1920s-1940s), and stockholders (1899-1960). There are Wisconsin Central corporate record books (1871-1951), and three volumes of documents relating to a number of acquired and subsidiary companies.
Miscellaneous subject files include information about the history of the Wisconsin Central, about mortgage bonds, the lease and operation of the Wisconsin Central by the Soo Line, and the reorganization of the Wisconsin Central in the 1940s and 1950s. There are lists of Wisconsin Central stockholders (1950), a stock transfer record book (1871-1902), and a stock ledger for the Wisconsin Central and predecessor and subsidiary companies (1901-1906). There are minute books of the Western Executive Committee (1892-1893), and Wisconsin Central Company corporate record books (1887-1898).
Vault files consist of legal documents, maps, minutes, and financial papers concerning the Wisconsin Central and various related companies. These records were originally folded and housed in small boxes designated A-M.
Pages 1-48: Portage, Winnebago and Superior RR Co., June 2, 1869-February 3, 1871 (copy).
Pages 49-173: Wisconsin Central Railroad Company, February 8, 1871-May 27, 1875.
These two volumes contain transcripts of various documents relating to the above lines--acquired and subsidiary companies.
Includes predecessor and related companies.
Includes Abbotsford & North Eastern; Ashland Iron Mining Company: Chicago & Wisconsin; Chicago, Wisconsin & Minnesota; Chippewa Falls & Western; Gogebic & Montreal River; Manitowoc Land Improvement Company; Marshfield & South Eastern; Milwaukee & Lake Winnebago; Minnesota, St. Croix & Wisconsin; Packwaukee & Montello; Penokee; St. Paul & St. Croix Falls; Wisconsin & Minnesota; and Wisconsin Central Railroad Company.
Pages 3-13: Wisconsin Central Railroad Company Directors and Stockholders Minutes, April 12-June 22, 1892.
Pages 23-51: Western Executive Committee Minutes, January 19, 1892-January 9, 1893.
These documents were originally folded and housed in small boxes labeled A-M.
Index includes entries to a given company's "miscellaneous papers," which may be separately indexed.
This record set includes a handful of files of a vice president, a few folders of operating, personnel, and traffic-related records, some oversize items, and a box of law-related volumes and papers.
Files of Vice President G. W. Webster include two folders of land grant-related papers and a land grant map (1909-1937).
Operating-related records (1870s-1900s) consist of a few alphabetically ordered subject files, including rule and instruction books for certain groups of employees.
Personnel-Related records consist of a list of officers, agents, and stations (1908).
Traffic-Related records include route maps (1889-1906), timetables (1880s-1900s), and a volume of Wisconsin Central freight revenue statistics (1954-1957).
Records of Wisconsin Central Ltd., a spinoff company formed in 1987 from the Soo Line's Lake States Division, include a time table, some newsletters, and other miscellaneous items.
Oversize items include material from the offices of Vice President-Accounts and Secretary; They are listed above in their respective record series.
Law-related records include three docket registers (1902-1909), and information about John A. Stewart vs. the Wisconsin Central Railway Company (ca. 1898) and Stewart and Abbot, Trustees, vs. the Wisconsin Central Company (1898).
See Soo Line. Public Relations. Miscellaneous Subject Files for more information on Wisconsin Central Limited.
Includes sets of president's and trustees' subject files.
President's numerically coded subject files include directors' correspondence and information about directors' meetings (1949-1959), information about labor matters (1950s), a White Pine Copper [Company] mine (1950s), the Jones and Laughlin Ore Company (1940s-1950s), and the reorganization of the DSS&A (1940s-1950s).
Trustees: Numerically coded subject files include a substantial amount of information about "additions and betterments" (improvements to tracks and facilities, purchases of locomotives and rolling stock) (1930s-1950s), as well as information about abandonments, mortgage bonds, real estate, and the reorganization of the DSS&A. There is also information about related companies, particularly the Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Company and the Mackinac Transportation Company.
Trustees: Reorganization files include copies of the DSS&A articles of incorporation and bylaws (1949), a Consummation Order and Final Decree (1949), six volumes of documents (1937-1951), and a Plan of Reorganization (1946).
Includes March 8, 1951, Agreement between CNW, DSS&A, and Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad Company concerning tracks and facilities near Negaunee, Michigan.
Includes annual reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission (1940s-1950s) and to state regulatory authorities (state boards of assessors, public service commissions, railroad and warehouse commissions, tax commissions) in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (1900s-1930s, 1950s).
Minutes and related records of meetings of the DSS&A board of directors (1949-1960), the executive committee (1950-1960), and stockholders (1949-1960). There are also some minute books (1886-1938).
Miscellaneous subject files include articles of consolidation (1886 and 1933), a corporate history chart and related information, and information about mortgage bonds, the reorganization of the DSS&A (1940s), and the Marquette, Houghton & Ontonagon and Mineral Range railroad companies.
Folder of Miscellaneous Papers, undated and 1918-1921.
Operating-related records include an Interstate Commerce Commission valuation of the DSS&A, the Mineral Range Railroad Company, and the Sainte Marie Union Depot Company (1931), some rule and instruction books (1930s-1950s), and some schedules for enginemen and for trainmen and yardmen (1940s-1950s).
Personnel-related records consist of some collective labor agreements (1930-1956).
Traffic-related records include timetables (1940s-1950s), information about tariffs, and miscellany.
Records of more than eighty branch lines and predecessor, subsidiary, and related companies (excluding the Wisconsin Central and the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic railroad companies). Materials typically include corporate record books and stock certificate books. There may also be stock transfer record books, articles of incorporation or association, annual reports to government agencies (Interstate Commerce Commission, state regulatory authorities), financial statements, maps and structural drawings, information about directors' and stockholders' meetings, and miscellaneous subject files. The groups of records are arranged in simple alphabetical order by corporate name, although almost all of the companies represented relate directly to only one of the three major companies (M.St.P.&S.S.M., Wisconsin Central, DSS&A). Information in the collection indicates that the directors of the Wisconsin Central in 1959 authorized the destruction of journals, ledgers, road and equipment records, and other items of many of these companies in order to free up filing space.
There is also information about many of these companies at various places throughout the records of the three major companies, including in the Wisconsin Central secretary's Vault Files.
Companies represented include the Belt Railway Company of Chicago, the Central Terminal Railway Company, the Gogebic and Montreal River Railroad Company, the Marquette, Houghton and Ontonagon Railroad Company, the Milwaukee and Lake Winnebago Railroad Company, the Mineral Range Railroad Company, the Minneapolis Northfield & Southern Railway Company, the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Co., the Minnesota Transfer Railway Company, the St. Paul Union Depot Company, and the Whitmarsh Mining Company.
Originally Ordway, Bismarck and Northwestern Railway Company.
See also Whitmarsh Mining Company records.
Originally Bismarck, Washburn & Fort Buford Railway Company.
Includes some miscellaneous papers from 1903.
Later Ellendale East and West Railroad Company; still later Dakota Midland Railroad Company.
Includes bylaws on pages 6-
Includes Preferred, 1884-1885.
Includes also Midland Continental Railroad Company.
Includes Chippewa Falls and Western Railway Company.