The Best of Soo Line, Volume 1 (1979-1985)

In this video, C. Vision Productions and videographer Bob Rivard bring you classic footage of the Soo Line Railroad from the Twin Cities of Minnesota. With footage captured between 1979 and 1985, you’ll see the SOO in action shortly before the Milwaukee Road merger. The motive power variety is quite extraordinary, as F-units, EMD switchers, GP7s, GP9s, GP30s, GP38-2s, SD40s, SD40-2s, SD60s, one GP35, and even a rare RS27, are all viewed in operation. As an added bonus, EMD SD60 Demonstrators 1 and 4 are seen testing on the Soo Line prior to the railroad placing its first order for the powerful locomotives. Locations visited include Shoreham Yard in Minneapolis, Shoreham Hill, Humboldt Yard, New Brighton, Cardigan Junction, Robert Street in St. Paul, and many more. This entire program features live sound, and was captured on 1970s-vintage video equipment.
More C. Vision videos for your enjoyment:
Iowa, Chicago & Eastern, Vol. 2 - Soo Line, I&M Rail Link, IC&E, CP (1993-2013)
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LTV Mining Railroad: F-Units, Alcos, and Baldwins in Minnesota’s Arrowhead (1991-2004)
• LTV Mining Railroad: F...
A Tribute to the Soo Line - FULL VIDEO (2000)
• A Tribute to the Soo L...
Green Bay & Western Alco Finale - Farewell to the GB&W
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Minnesota Commercial Railway - 70 Year Old Locomotives Smoking Like Chimneys!
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Chicago Central & Pacific, Crandic, DM&E, GB&W: Midwest Railroading in the 1980s and 1990s
• Chicago Central & Paci...
Classic Minnesota Railroading 1979-1988 - Best of the Twin Cities (FULL VIDEO)
• Classic Minnesota Rail...

[@wildbill9919]

Those SOO red and white locos looked great when they were clean.

[@CVisionProductions1]

They certainly did! The SOO did their best to keep their locomotive fleet clean. Those were good days on the railroad. As always, we appreciate your comments.

[@Bongofurry]

Used to catch out of Camden place north side Minneapolis. All pre-graffiti era. Great memories. Thanks !

[@CVisionProductions1]

Awesome! That would have been a great time to ride trains. The 10 mph at Camden back then would have made things easier. We believe it’s 25 mph now. Anyway, thank you for watching and commenting.

[@Bongofurry]

There was a switch engine engineer that gave us a cab ride . That was something else.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Gotcha. Pretty neat! The good old days with friendly train crews…

[@dwkcamman611]

I've always loved the Soo Line, this video shows some pretty amazing scenes, love the history, well done!!

[@CVisionProductions1]

Many thanks!

[@AlexTrain5249]

This railway was my mother's childhood and this is right in the midst of her era by the SOO.

[@CVisionProductions1]

And a great era it was! We’d love to revisit those days… Our time machine is still broken. Thank you, Alex!

[@jaydee975]

As always kudos to those who have taken these historic videos. Don’t forget to donate a copy of the videos to the local historical societies for safekeeping. ❤

[@CVisionProductions1]

Mr. Rivard was a forward thinker when it came to video and documenting his local railroads. We commend him for that. As for donating this video, that would be up to Mr. Rivard. He retained the rights to all of his footage. We appreciate the idea.

[@jaydee975]

It’s great to see a little rock Island action in this video! At least I know I can still go down to Mississippi and see some rock Island action down there.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Right. The resurrected Rock Island image looks great on their locomotives. They’ve got a pretty neat operation going down there.

[@DL541]

One of my all time video series, great work.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you very much! Mr. Rivard will be happy to hear that. We appreciate you watching.

[@jmiller3v]

I love the tape on the front of the F unit to keep dirt, water, cold air etc outta the cab.

[@CVisionProductions1]

For sure! Those front doors on SOO’s F-units didn’t get much (if any) use. Thank you for pointing that out.

[@danielneeley5480]

Loves these old videos with EMDs in them. I didn't know they had no horn zones back in the late 70s and early 80s😢

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you! Classic EMDs never disappoint… And yes, Minneapolis and St. Paul have had whistle ordinances for a very long time. We agree that it’s a bit surprising, but the railroads have been complying with those ordinances for decades. We appreciate the comment.

[@Nicola636128]

Another excellent video!

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you very much!!! We’re happy that you enjoyed this one. Your comment is appreciated.

[@SomeDuder1984]

Curious why SooLine didn't order their power with dynamic braking?

[@CVisionProductions1]

During the 1960s and 1970s, the SOO did not feel that dynamic brakes were worth the added expense. There were several significant grades across the system, but most of the railroad was fairly flat. However, the SOO changed their position in the 1980s beginning with the railroad’s first order of SD60s from EMD. As you may know, the SOO’s entire SD60/SD60M fleet was equipped with dynamic brakes. They also began retrofitting some of the 700 and 6600-series SD40-2s with dynamic brakes beginning in the late 1980s. We appreciate the question.

[@ethan6720]

how do you put on smock stack on diesel locomotive in the old day

[@ryanfrogz]

Great stuff! I always enjoy seeing Rivard footage. What’s the to-from on that glycol extra? Seems like an awful lot of the stuff.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you very much! To answer your question, the best we can come up with is somewhere in Canada to Chicago. Those trains operated into the 2000s, but are now long gone. We appreciate you watching and commenting.

[@mjrodriguez8670]

The variety of SOO Line diesels was amazing back in 1979 and 80! Bob Rivard chose to use videotape, while Roger W. Bee bought an 8mm movie camera that could record natural sound. The quality of Mr. Rivard's videotape is really not very krystal-klear. And speaking of Mr. Bee, I hope to see his Rock Island, Milwaukee Road and SOO Line films someday!

[@CVisionProductions1]

Thank you, MJ! And yes, you are correct on the recording methods for these older videos. Some of the earlier video camera systems resulted in a picture that wasn’t very sharp. But it certainly was a step in the right direction. We’ve come a long way since then! As always, we appreciate you watching and commenting.

[@jaydee975]

@35:08 #944 is heading eastbound in to Loretto crossing Townline Road.

[@CVisionProductions1]

That is correct. It doesn’t look much different at that spot today. Lights and gates at the crossing, and the pole line is gone. Gotta love that classic Soo Line look that everything had back in those days.

[@AnontheGOAT]

We need some Chessie System vids!

[@CVisionProductions1]

Agreed! But we’re not sure if we have any in our archives… Probably a few Chessie units here and there, but it would all be in the CSX era. We’ll see what we can do. Stay tuned!

[@jaydee975]

What is the depot in new Brighton that the employees were working out of also used for passenger service years before?

[@CVisionProductions1]

That depot is long gone. The CN’s depot at New Brighton is pretty much in the same place - it was built a little further from the tracks compared to the Soo Line’s depot. CPKC currently has no buildings there.

[@jwernhol]

This is the best of from 79-85 and there were Wisconsin Central boxcars?

[@CVisionProductions1]

This indeed was footage from 1979 to 1985. The Wisconsin Central did not exist at that time, and no WC equipment was featured in the video. Thank you for taking the time to watch this program.

[@brianbooher7318]

Does anyone no how big the soo was how many miles did they have i thought they was a small road but i keep finding out more an more an still to this day see alot of rollind stock an have saw a few engines pass thru my hometown in east tn over the years they must have been bigger than i thought

[@CVisionProductions1]

Following the Milwaukee Road purchase in 1985, the SOO operated around 7500 miles of track. At its peak, Soo Line trains could be seen from Kentucky to Montana. Of course, the mileage dropped following multiple line sales and abandonments. Still quite impressive! Thanks for watching.

[@brianbooher7318]

@CVisionProductions1 thanks for answering yea that is quite impressive an alot bigger than I thought.thanks for sharing an saving history you do

[@CVisionProductions1]

You’re very welcome, Brian. Thank you for appreciating these videos.

[@gerardjewels5259]

Did Mr. Richard shoot any Rock Island or Milwaukee Road with his camera?

[@CVisionProductions1]

Yes, he sure did! There’s even a little Rock Island in this video. Mr. Rivard got around with that video camera of his. Thank you for watching.

[@gerardjewels5259]

@@CVisionProductions1 I saw the shot with the Rock, did he get any more? Hoping you could share more of The Rock Island or MILW if he did!

[@CVisionProductions1]

If you haven’t seen it, there should be more Rock Island and Milwaukee Road footage in our KZbin video titled “Classic Minnesota Railroading 1979-1988 - Best of the Twin Cities (FULL VIDEO)”. The video’s upload date is July 29, 2023. Hopefully that helps! Thanks again.

[@Tpackage-my8dx]

The Dolly 416 looking janky and rough running. The Dolly’s broke down a lot

[@CVisionProductions1]

That sounds about right. And it was interesting that 416 was paired up with 2554. Perhaps the 415 was down for maintenance? We appreciate you noting the 416’s presence in the video.

[@jalilmuhammad8270]

The Soo Line would be subjugated by Canadian Pacific in 1990.

[@CVisionProductions1]

Yes, and that was after the CP attempted to sell its share of the SOO. It’s a good thing they reversed their position! The railroad landscape of today would be completely different had they sold off the SOO to another company. Thank you for watching.