Thunder Bay Unseen

Superior History

Waving The Flag - 1

The term Fallen Flags is used by railroad enthusiasts to denote the logos of railroads that no longer exist, whether through merger or assimilation. Although there are a number of those logos in this section it is by no means a collection of the completely defunct. There are a number of logos, both classic and modern, found on different cars throughout the Lakehead. This first page of logos was uncovered as I gathered pictures for both the Iron Ore Trestle and Intercity Harbour pages.

Burlington Northern Soo

Burlington Northern was created out of the merger of the American Railways - Great Northern Railway, Northern Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway, and the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railway. The railroad had its headquarters in St. Paul. In 1996 Burlington Northern merged with the Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway.

A reader of the site sent me this email to help answer some questions about the history of this particular type of boxcar and why it still bears the name of a company that ceased to exist over a decade ago:

At one time, this was an ordinary boxcar. This was turned into an Air Repeater Car (stenciled on bottom left of the car). Although these cars are seldom used anymore in the Railroad industry, at the time of inception circa 1975, then were placed at or near the rear of trains to allow the air brakes a "fresh supply "of compressed air, normally supplied by the locomotives. Train air brake lines tend to leak in cold weather. The Lakehead, getting as cold as it does in winter, is a prime resident for these cars.
Now as to how a BN boxcar ended up where it is, the answer is that it is no longer a BN boxcar. This car, and 25 other siblings were converted by Burlington Northern, but were later sold to the Soo Line. This is the SOO seen above the "air Repeater Car" stencil. In the railroad industry, a car's ownership is dictated by the reporting marks. The reporting mark here is "SOO 900009". Reporting Marks are assigned by the Association of American Railroads, in which CN and CP participate. There is little if any incentive to eradicate signs of former ownership of a car, in the North American Railroad industry. Reporting Marks must be changed to reflect the new owner, however.
When a railroad acquires another, it also acquires the reporting marks assigned to the former railroad. The Soo Line had long been a Canadian Pacific subsidiary, in practice. Some time in the 90's CP purchased all Soo shares outright, and CP management was now free to assign it wherever they so decided. As mentioned above, Thunder Bay is an ideal candidate location, along with Winnipeg, Sudbury and cities to the west .
The function of these cars has been supplanted by radio controlled mid-train locomotives, but the only things certain in CP's life are Taxes and Indecision, so don't be surprised if you see one.
Rob Iwacha
Winnipeg

Illinois Central Gulf

In 1972 the Illinois Central Railroad merged with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad to form the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. In 1988, the ICG dropped the "Gulf" from its name and again became known as the Illinois Central Railroad.
In 1998 the Illinois Central Railroad was purchased by CN and its operations merged. There has been a marked increase in Illinois Central cars around the Lakehead in the last few years.

Continental Grain Company

The ContiGroup Company (CGC) serves customers around the world through facilities and affiliates in ten countries. In North America it was operated as the Continental Grain Company for over 75 years, until 1999, when they sold off their commodity marketing operations and turned their focus to meat proteins.
The cars are not rare across the Lakehead as the Grain Industry still needs more hopper cars than are usually available.

Soo Line

The Soo Line was officially purchased by CP in the early part of this century. Formerly known as Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway (and commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic pronunciation of Sault), the 'Soo' name was adopted as the official name in 1950.
The Soo Hoppers are slowly dispersing along the CP network and, thus, are appearing in Thunder Bay in increasing numbers.

Milwaukee Road

Purchased by the Soo Line in 1985, the Milwaukee Road was absorbed into the Soo Line in 1986 and ceased to exist.
The boxcar above was seen at CP's East End yard along the banks of the Kam River. Since CP bought up the Soo Line it makes sense that some of Soo's rolling stock would arrive in Thunder Bay eventually. What is amazing is that one of those stock cars bears the name Milwaukee Road, almost 20 years after that railroad's absorption into another.

Government of Canada

These hopper cars were provided at no cost to the two national railroads of Canada, the CN and CP, in order to provide a cheap means for those railroads to move western grain to market without passing high costs along to those same farmers. They are among the most plentiful of rolling stock in the Thunder Bay area.

Rio Grande

Originally known as the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, the Rio Grande was sold to the Union Pacific Railroad in 1996. Union Pacific shares some routes with Canadian Pacific, which might explain this car's presence in the CP East End Yard.

Route Rock - Rock Island

Originally the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it was in its final years known simply at the Rock. In existence for over 100 years the Rock was finally liquidated in 1980 after failing to reorganize after its third bankruptcy.
It is an interesting find here in Thunder Bay when the date is taken into consideration. This car has been under other ownership for over 25 years but it has not been repainted or re branded by its current owners. It is unique because unlike other cars of nonexistent brands Rock Island was not absorbed into another company, its assets were just sold off after the bankruptcy.

CSX

An American Class I railroad formed out of the former Seaboard Coast Lines and Chessie System. In the late 90s it absorbed part of the former Conrail System.
It shares access over its routes with CP, which serves as an explanation as to why one of its auto carrier cars would be found in a yard in Thunder Bay.

Grand Trunk Western

A wholly owned subsidiary of CN, the Grand Trunk Western Railway has been in existence since the 1880s.
It is interesting to come across one of these cars still bearing the Grand Trunk brand since, in 1995, CN undertook a campaign to re brand all of its rolling stock with the CN colours and name.

Government of Canada

This is an alternate colour scheme to the yellow and brown cylinder hoppers seen above.

Saskatchewan Grain Car Corporation

The Saskatchewan Grain Car Corporation is a division of the Saskatchewan Government, ultimately overseen by the Minister of Highways and Transportation for the province. The cars were purchased by the government and given to the railways for free in order that they may provide western farmers with a means of getting their grain to markets for as little cost to the railroads as possible.

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Waving The Flag - 1