Soo Line Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

Published: October 27, 2026

The Soo Line’s modern steam was a freight railroad’s fleet, built for grain, ore, and a long passenger run that never tried to be a Hiawatha. The quantity column on the post-1900 list, Soo Line and Wisconsin Central together, is 422. One hundred twenty-two of them are 2-8-0s. The four Lima 4-8-4s of 1938, 5000–5003, were the last new steam the railroad bought and the largest. Locomotives numbered 2000 and above were Wisconsin Central property, except Mountains 4000–4003, which the roster marks as Soo engines. The Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic is a separate railroad and is not in this table.

Soo Line 2-10-0 950 at Ashland WI in the 1950s

Soo Line's only 2-10-0 decapod, #950, was photographed here at Ashland, Wisconsin during the early 1950s. Photographer unknown.

On this page: At a glance · Consolidations and Mikados · Passenger locomotives · Mountains and the Northerns · Switchers · Roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, and the Wisconsin Central. Company history
This table	Steam locomotives built since 1900. Wisconsin Central numbers are 2000 and above
Switchers	41. Six-wheel, classes B-1 through B-4 and B-22, B-23. All 51-inch drivers
Moguls	65. D-2, 108–172, Schenectady, 1903–1907, built as cross-compounds
Prairies	10. J, 800–809, Schenectady, 1907, built as cross-compounds
Consolidations	122. F-7 through F-12 and F-20 through F-23
Mikados	48. L through L-4, and Wisconsin Central L-20
Decapod	1. G, No. 950, Baldwin, 1900, built as a compound
Atlantics	15. K, 2900–2914, ex-Wisconsin Central 257–271, Brooks, 1902–1905
Ten-Wheelers	34. E-1, E-2, E-22, E-24, and E-25. The E-1 quantity is 6 against numbers 605–611
Pacifics	61. H through H-3, and Wisconsin Central H-20 through H-23. The H-1 quantity is 21 against numbers 701–722
Mountains	21. N-20, 4000–4020, in three batches, 1926, 1928, and 1930
Northerns	4. O-20, 5000–5003, Lima, 1938
Quantity column	422
Last new steam	Lima 4-8-4s, 1938
Last fire in service	February 15, 1955, Consolidation 468

Consolidations and Mikados

The nineteenth-century freight engine on the Soo was a small cross-compound 2-8-0. Twenty-seven of them, with 51-inch drivers, came from Schenectady and Rhode Island in 1893. They sit outside this table. What the twentieth century added, beginning in 1900, was a larger Consolidation, still a compound at the start, and then a simple engine with a superheater.

Schenectady delivered 51 cross-compound 2-8-0s from 1900 through 1909, numbers 428–474 on the Soo and 2425–2428 on the Wisconsin Central. The early ones had 55-inch drivers. The later ones had 63. All of them were later rebuilt as simple engines and given superheaters. The table marks F-7, F-9, and F-10 as built cross-compound. Between 1910 and 1913 Schenectady added 46 simple Consolidations with 63-inch drivers, weighing 225,000 pounds: 475–499 for the Soo and 2429–2449 for the Wisconsin Central. Class F-23, the last six of that Wisconsin Central group, is dated 1914.

The Wisconsin Central’s own pre-Soo Consolidations were a lighter engine. Twenty-five of them, later Soo 2400–2424, class F-20, were built from 1903 to 1907 as Wisconsin Central 160–184. They had 63-inch drivers, 21-by-26-inch cylinders, and weighed 163,400 pounds, well under the Soo’s own twentieth-century 2-8-0. Consolidation 468, the engine that dropped the last fire in regular service, is one of the F-9s, 445–472.

There were two odd freight engines before the Mikado became the road engine. Baldwin built a single Vauclain-compound 2-10-0 in 1900, No. 950, class G, and at the time it was the largest locomotive in the world. It was later simpled. Its niche was the ore dock at Ashland, Wisconsin. The same decade brought ten cross-compound Prairies from Schenectady, 800–809, class J, built in 1907 and later simpled, and 65 cross-compound Moguls, 108–172, class D-2, Schenectady, 1903–1907, also later simpled. The Moguls are the largest single class on the list.

The first 2-8-2 the Soo owned was not built for the Soo. Bismarck, Washburn & Great Falls No. 3 was a Baldwin of 1901, a 51-inch-driver Vauclain compound weighing 166,900 pounds, with the firebox set behind the drivers and carried on a trailing truck. It was the first Mikado built for service in the United States. The Soo bought it in 1904 and numbered it 1000, class L.

Schenectady’s L-1s, 1001–1010, arrived in 1913 at about the size of a United States Railroad Administration light Mikado: 63-inch drivers, 28-by-30-inch cylinders, and 170 pounds of boiler pressure, with about the same tractive effort as the government engine. In 1920 Brooks delivered 25 more of the same dimensions, slightly heavier. Thirteen were Soo 1011–1023, class L-2. Twelve were Wisconsin Central 3000–3011, class L-20.

The last Mikados were secondhand, a dozen of them in 1941 and 1942. Four Baldwins came from the Rock Island, class L-3, 1030–1033, built in 1913. Eight Brooks engines came from the Monon, class L-4, 1024–1027 and 1034–1037, built in 1912. By then the railroad had been buying diesels for a few years. It had not yet decided that steam was finished.

Passenger locomotives

The Soo was never a great passenger railroad. The Chicago–Minneapolis line was longer than the competitors’, and after 1933 the summer-only Chicago–Vancouver train west of Portal ran on the Chicago & North Western between Chicago and St. Paul. What the Soo did own for passenger work was a long series of Pacifics, a handful of Ten-Wheelers, and fifteen Wisconsin Central Atlantics.

Two groups of passenger Ten-Wheelers date from 1898 and sit outside this table. Baldwin’s Vauclain compounds 600–604, class E, had 73-inch drivers. Wisconsin Central 227–230, later 2625–2628, class E-23, came from Brooks. The Ten-Wheelers that do fall on this list start with Baldwin’s E-1s of 1902 and 1903, numbers 605–611, 69-inch drivers, the only passenger Ten-Wheelers built new for the Soo after 1900. The quantity on that row is 6. The freight Ten-Wheelers were all inherited. Nos. 612 and 613, class E-2, came from the Wisconsin & Northern. Nos. 2629–2654 came from the Wisconsin Central: E-22 with 63-inch drivers, and E-24 and E-25 with 57-inch drivers, small enough that they would be considered switchers on some roads. The Wisconsin Central bought them for tractive effort, just before 1900 on the table’s dating, Brooks, 1900.

The fifteen Atlantics, class K, 2900–2914, were Brooks engines of 1902–1905, former Wisconsin Central 257–271. Their 79-inch drivers were the tallest on the railroad. Most of them were off the roster by 1940.

The Pacifics are the passenger story. No. 700, class H, is former Bismarck, Washburn & Great Falls No. 4, a Baldwin of 1904. The H-1s, 701–722, and the Wisconsin Central H-20s, 2700–2703, had 69-inch drivers and 20-by-26-inch cylinders and weighed between 202,000 and 206,000 pounds. The quantity on the H-1 row is 21. The H-1s had inside piston valves and Stephenson valve gear. Class H-2, 723–726, kept the 69-inch driver and used 24-inch cylinders with 170 pounds of boiler pressure, good for 30,760 pounds of tractive effort. The rest, H-3 and Wisconsin Central H-21, H-22, and H-23, had 75-inch drivers and 25-by-26-inch cylinders. The H-3s, 727–737, and the H-21s, 2704–2713, weighed 258,000 pounds and were built in 1911 and 1913. The H-22s, 2714–2717, were 6,000 pounds heavier. The H-23s, 2718–2723, built in 1923, weighed 271,000 pounds, somewhat lighter than a United States Railroad Administration light Pacific.

Mountains and the Northerns

The Soo had a long disadvantage between Chicago and the Twin Cities. The route was mostly single track, and only about half of it was signaled. About all the operating department could do was run faster. In 1926 the 4-8-2 was assigned to freight and to the heavier passenger trains. Brooks delivered ten class N-20 Mountains that year, updated versions of the government light 4-8-2. They weighed 344,500 pounds. Trailing-truck boosters gave them 64,620 pounds of starting tractive effort. The first four, 4000–4003, were Soo engines. Nos. 4004–4009 were Wisconsin Central power.

Schenectady delivered eight more in 1928, 4010–4017. In 1930 the Soo erected the last three, 4018–4020, at its Shoreham Shops in Minneapolis, using boilers built by Alco. They weighed 338,700 pounds. Successive batches of the same locomotive usually grew heavier. These grew lighter.

The last steam the Soo bought for itself was faster still. Lima delivered four 4-8-4s in 1938, 5000–5003, class O-20. They were mid-size Northerns, 453,500 pounds, with 75-inch drivers, and they would have made handsome passenger engines only a few years earlier. Rated tractive effort was 66,000 pounds, and the trailing-truck booster added another 13,400. They drew the fast Chicago–Twin Cities freights and earned a reputation for availability. They could be turned at a terminal and sent back out in a hurry. No. 5001 was photographed on September 25, 1949, at Van Dyne, Wisconsin, with 60 cars, still in the years when steam and the new diesel road units shared the railroad.

Dieselization was complete, in the sense that the last fire in regular service had been dropped, on February 15, 1955, when 2-8-0 No. 468 came in. As late as July 1958, eleven steam locomotives, 2-8-0s, 2-8-2s, and 4-6-2s, were still carried on the roster, stored serviceable.

Switchers

The Soo rostered only 0-6-0s for yard work. They were 51-inch-driver engines, and as the type developed they grew heavier. Even the B-4s, 344–354, the only switchers with outside piston valves and outside valve gear, did not approach a United States Railroad Administration 0-6-0 in weight or tractive effort. The heavier transfer jobs went to Consolidations.

Classes B-1 through B-4 are the Soo’s own, 326–354, Cooke and Schenectady and Brooks, 1902 through 1920. The Wisconsin Central’s six-wheel switchers are B-22, 2317–2320, Brooks, 1900, and B-23, 2321–2328, Brooks, 1899–1908, built as cross-compounds. The B-23 row reaches back into 1899. The quantity is the eight engines the table lists.

Roster

The quantity column adds to 422. Where a number series is longer than the quantity, the quantity is the figure in the table. That is true of E-1, numbers 605–611, quantity 6, and of H-1, numbers 701–722, quantity 21. A blank cell is empty. Wisconsin Central locomotives carry Soo numbers in the 2000s and above. Bismarck, Washburn & Great Falls is abbreviated BW&GF. Wisconsin & Northern is W&N.

Type	Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Notes
0-6-0	B-1	326–333	8	Cooke	1902–1907
0-6-0	B-2	334–339	6	Schenectady	1909–1910
0-6-0	B-3	340–343	4	Schenectady	1912
0-6-0	B-4	344–354	11	Brooks, Schenectady	1915–1920
0-6-0	B-22	2317–2320	4	Brooks	1900
0-6-0	B-23	2321–2328	8	Brooks	1899–1908	Built as cross-compound
2-6-0	D-2	108–172	65	Schenectady	1903–1907	Built as cross-compound
2-6-2	J	800–809	10	Schenectady	1907	Built as cross-compound
2-8-0	F-7	428–430	3	Schenectady	1900	Built as cross-compound
2-8-0	F-8	431–444	14	Schenectady	1902–1903
2-8-0	F-9	445–472	28	Schenectady	1905–1906	Built as cross-compound
2-8-0	F-10	473, 474	2	Schenectady	1909	Built as cross-compound
2-8-0	F-11	475–484	10	Schenectady	1910
2-8-0	F-12	485–499	15	Schenectady	1912–1913
2-8-0	F-20	2400–2424	25	Schenectady	1903–1907	Ex-WC 160–184
2-8-0	F-21	2425–2428	4	Schenectady	1909
2-8-0	F-22	2429–2443	15	Schenectady	1911
2-8-0	F-23	2444–2449	6	Schenectady	1914
2-8-2	L	1000	1	Baldwin	1901	Ex-BW&GF 3
2-8-2	L-1	1001–1010	10	Schenectady	1913
2-8-2	L-2	1011–1023	13	Brooks	1920
2-8-2	L-3	1030–1033	4	Baldwin	1913	Ex-Rock Island
2-8-2	L-4	1024–1027	4	Brooks	1912	Ex-Monon
2-8-2	L-4	1034–1037	4	Brooks	1912	Ex-Monon
2-8-2	L-20	3000–3011	12	Brooks	1920
2-10-0	G	950	1	Baldwin	1900	Built as compound
4-4-2	K	2900–2914	15	Brooks	1902–1905	Ex-WC 257–271
4-6-0	E-1	605–611	6	Baldwin	1902–1903
4-6-0	E-2	612, 613	2	Schenectady	1913, 1915	Ex-W&N 4, 5
4-6-0	E-22	2629–2639	11	Brooks	1900	Ex-WC 231–241
4-6-0	E-24	2640–2644	5	Brooks	1900	Ex-WC 242–246
4-6-0	E-25	2645–2654	10	Brooks	1900	Ex-WC 247–256
4-6-2	H	700	1	Baldwin	1904	Ex-BW&GF 4
4-6-2	H-1	701–722	21	Schenectady	1904–1907
4-6-2	H-2	723–726	4	Schenectady	1910
4-6-2	H-3	727–737	11	Schenectady	1911–1913
4-6-2	H-20	2700–2703	4	Schenectady	1909
4-6-2	H-21	2704–2713	10	Schenectady	1911–1913
4-6-2	H-22	2714–2717	4	Schenectady	1914
4-6-2	H-23	2718–2723	6	Schenectady	1923
4-8-2	N-20	4000–4009	10	Brooks	1926	4000–4003 owned by Soo
4-8-2	N-20	4010–4017	8	Schenectady	1928
4-8-2	N-20	4018–4020	3	Soo Line	1930	Erected at Shoreham, Alco boilers
4-8-4	O-20	5000–5003	4	Lima	1938

Sources

George H. Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition. Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie chapter, including the Wisconsin Central, pp. 212–214. The table is “Soo Line and Wisconsin Central steam locomotives since 1900.”
Roster notices named in that chapter: Railroad magazine, February 1934, p. 130; June 1947, p. 124; May 1953, p. 106. Trains, December 1958, p. 23. Railway & Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin No. 54, p. 150, the Wisconsin Central.
Soo Line Historical & Technical Society, sooline.org.

Facebook X Pinterest Tumblr Reddit WhatsApp Messenger