Ashland is a northern port city, located on Lake Superior. Ashland was once famous for its large ore docks, which allowed railroads to transfer iron ore to ships on Lake Superior. The city once had a number of railroads, including lines of the Chicago & North Western Railway (C&NW), Northern Pacific Railway (NP), Soo Line and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway (Omaha Road). Today, only the former Soo Line remains intact, although is out of service. The remaining railroads have been abandoned or turned into trails.