Bismarck Washburn & Great Falls

Company History: The BW&GF was established in 1899 to takeover the Bismarck Washburn & Fort Buford Railroad. By 1904 they had a 58 mile railroad from Bismarck, North Dakota to Washburn and Underwood. BW&GF was the first U.S. road to order a “proper” 2-8-2 Mikado, receiving it in 1901. “Proper” meaning the firebox was behind the drivers and the trailing truck supported the weight of the firebox. Earlier 2-8-2’s had the firebox above the drivers and the trailing truck was used to guide the engine around curves when running in reverse (an arrangement sometimes called a Calumet instead of Mikado.) Traffic included coal and grain as well as passengers and mail. It was acquired by Minneapolis St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie (Soo Line) in 1904.

Successor/Parent History: The Soo Line Railroad (reporting mark SOO) is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM), which was commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of that company with two other CP subsidiaries, the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad and Wisconsin Central Railroad. It is also the successor to other Class I railroads, including the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway (acquired 1982) and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road, acquired at bankruptcy in 1985). On the other hand, a large amount of mileage was spun off in 1987 to Wisconsin Central Ltd., now part of the Canadian National Railway.

The Soo Line and the Delaware and Hudson Railway, the CP's other major subsidiary (before the 2008 DM&E acquisition), presently do business as the Canadian Pacific Railway, and most equipment has been repainted into the CP's scheme, but the U.S. Surface Transportation Board groups all CP's U.S. subsidiaries under the Soo Line name for reporting purposes.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.