CN McCullum Creek Bridge

In 1883, the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railway (MSSM&A) constructed 47 miles of new railroad, extending from Turtle Lake to Bruce, Wisconsin.  The following year, an additional 20 miles were constructed from Bruce to Main Creek, Wisconsin.  In 1886, an additional 76 miles were completed from Main Creek to Rhinelander, Wisconsin.  In 1887, the Minneapolis and St. Croix Railway (M&SC) constructed 36 miles of railroad, extending from Shoreham, Minnesota to the St. Croix River near Osceola, Wisconsin.  At the same time, the MSSM&A constructed an additional 37 miles from the St. Croix River to Turtle Lake, as well as 126 miles from Rhinelander to Gladstone, Michigan.  In 1888, the MSSM&A completed 148 additional miles to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, completing the line.  The MSSM&A and M&SC were consolidated to form the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway (MStP&SSM, commonly known as the Soo Line) in 1888.  This line formed the eastern principal mainline of the Soo Line, connecting the Twin Cities to Canada at Sault Ste. Marie.

The Soo Line was a modest sized railroad in the Midwest, with routes extending through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Dakota, with subsidiary routes extending to Chicago.  It was operated as a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway (CP).  By 1937, the Soo Line had entered bankruptcy, and it would be reorganized as the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad in 1944. In 1961, the MStP&SSM would be merged with other CP subsidiaries Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad and the Wisconsin Central Railway to form Soo Line Railroad, a company controlled by CP.  Throughout the 20th Century, this line slowly lost importance, as most traffic for the Soo Line was run over the Chicago-Twin Cities mainline.  In 1984, the Soo Line would be reorganized as the Soo Line Corporation in advance of a pending purchase of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road).  In 1987, this line would be sold to Wisconsin Central, Ltd. (WC).  Known as the "new" Wisconsin Central, the railroad acquired several excess rail lines from the Soo Line, Milwaukee Road and Chicago & North Western Railway.

In 1990, the segment between Amery, Wisconsin and Almena, Wisconsin was abandoned and sold to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for trail use.  In 2001, WC was merged into Canadian National Railway (CN), becoming the American subsidiary of CN.  The segment between Dresser, Wisconsin and Amery, Wisconsin was abandoned in 2003, and also sold to the Wisconsin DNR.  In 2021, CN sold excess and unprofitable lines in northern Wisconsin to the Fox Valley & Lake Superior Rail System (FOXY).  FOXY acquired the line between east of Ladysmith, Wisconsin and Goodman, Wisconsin.  Today, CN continues to operate the Shoreham to Dresser segment of this line as the Dresser Subdivision, and the Minnesota Transportation Museum (MTM) occasionally offers tourist excursions over this section of line.  In addition, CN operates the Almena to Tony segment as the Barron Subdivision; the Goodman to Gladstone, Michigan segment as the Pembine Subdivision and the Gladstone to Sault Ste. Marie segment as the Manistique Subdivision.  FOXY operates the line between Tony and Goodman, although the segments between Tony and Prentice and Rhinelander to Goodman are currently out of service.  The Cattail Trail uses the former railroad grade between Almena and Amery, and the Stover Seven Lakes Trail uses the former grade between Amery and Dresser.