I rode mixed freight passenger trains in Mexico all the way to 1994.

Let me update you Soo Line did not advertise the Mixed and discouraged use! I took a cab to the train and the crew called the dispatcher to have the police arrest me! But I had a ticket! The conductor after being told he had to take me, by the dispatcher. Threw the ticket out the window! " What do I do with this?" Rock Island was paid a break even rate of 1500 dollars a trip to run the 10mph Rockets!. When Illinois did not pay anymore the train was gone! The Soo Mixed was put on in a deal to pull off Minneapolis to Soo passenger service. No passengers were ever hurt of course but the Soo claimed it was dangerous. If it was so dangerous why did the crew ride back there? Most mixed trains were discontinued by AMTRAK! B&O, CB&Q, ATSF, B&M had them and more! Southern and Rio GRANDE. NEVER JOINED AMTRAK. They had a purchase of service contract. That limited Amtrak's ability to do business on their lines. They saw Amtrak successes on other lines and they wanted to stop that. Rio Grande never on WEDNESDAY ZEPHYR did not connect on the east end to kill demand. The Georgia RR did not pay taxes where there was passenger service, not a passenger train. It was awful! The coach was so dirty the crew welcomed passengers in their caboose. If they died under the law the management left the passenger with train in the middle of nowhere. They were nasty as L&N! CSX take over ended this. Extra cars were added by CSX in the last days because people found out about the service and wanted to ride! CLASSEY WHALE the SOO was a major carrier of MAIL AND EXPRESS. Look at pictures of the Laker and other Soo trains loaded with head end. Loss of mail and packages killed the Soo passenger services like thousands of others there never were a lot of people on Soo trains. There were faster, better trains to ride. It all about locals but the mail and express paid the bills never passengers. There were FOUR seats extra in the color mark cabooses for passengers and cabooses were added for extra people if you demanded to ride and warned management that refused to add them! It was all BS to keep you off the train! There also was no direct service like mainline services, they broke the ride into three sections so you had to change and may lose your connection! There WAS NO SCHEDULE for the train. You had to call and call and call, tickets were hidden in a old lunch box in depots or sold out of the passenger department in Minneapolis Soo Building. You had to fine the train yourself in the freight yard after it was made up! With your own cab or walk in the mud with your bags. I still have some tickets I bought to have and hold as a collector. Employees either didn't know about the service or lied about it . The employee time table and Official Guide said otherwise. I reported the SOO to the Wisconsin DOT that did nothing! There were no buses to compete with Michigan Soo services. The train I rode had 120 freight cars. There were other Mixed like the B&M Dole Junction mixed in New England. The only one left I know of today is the OC&T near Oil City, PA the town stinks and can take your breathe away from Penns Oil so they don't go into town! But it's a tourist train that carriers freight. A&A Arcade and Attica in NY State does this too sometimes if there is car to deliver.

In the early 70s, I was a conductor on the Indiana harbor belt railroad, and we rode in old wood slat cabooses, and it was miserable. I don’t think I wanna joy riding a caboose! Lol.

What an amazingly told story, thank you for sharing! I wonder how the on board amenities like the seat and toilet (?) would have looked like... Faszinating for sure, would love to see a modern times trip report of this. Keep the great content coming! Greetings from Germany :)

Canadian Pacific is a really interesting beast. They played a huge role in colonization of what would become Canada, had their own steamship line, airline, hotel chain and radio network (which was eventually taken over by the government to form the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).

I am a Soo Line fan and was today years old when I first learned this! Thank you for sharing! I wish I could go back in time and take advantage this opportunity. Although it only sounds slightly more convenient than a hobo hotel.

I most certainly would’ve rode it! I was 16 in 1986, and grew up next to the SOO main line in Slinger Wisconsin, and a lifelong rail fan. I once toured a caboose when they were stopped at the crossing by my house. I absolutely loved it!

Wonderful images with a great story!

Fascinating!!! Concise presentation and great visuals form a very enjoyable four minutes. So this was the last...

I would have rode as much as possible. I wish there was still a way to do this now. Thank you for posting.

Actually the Rock Island couldn't afford to pay Amtrak to take over the rockets so the Rock Island was required by law to continue operating the trains for 5 years. which is why slowly and slowly the trains became crappy. Differed Maintenace was cruel.

The Arcola High Bridge is among Soo Line's most impressive feats. There are some nice relics in Duluth at the Heritage Museum. It was a classy railroad and they built their lines well. It's a shame most of them are gone. But the trails and legacy are still there, and those won't go away.

And yet both Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh and Inverness to Wick are four a day each way, yet are in the middle of nowhere. (There are even also a few short turn extras.)

Yeah there is a lot soo line cabooses I like everywhere in the world every country

Anytime I rode in a Soo Line caboose I was getting paid.

Ontario and Manitoba still have mixed trains.

Early Amtrak time tables had these in them. Rock and Grande too. Not the other mixed????

If you were ever in a Soo Line caboose you know you didn’t miss much.

I think the Algoma Central which was a subsidiary of Wisconsin Central ran mixed trains not sure if CN still dose them or not but you may also want to look at both the British Columbia Railway (BC Rail) now CN might still mixed trains.

Alaska Railroad definitely runs mixed trains on it's routes.

Well let’s hope A2TC happen to connect Michigan areas

very interesting

Mixed were in the time tables for years. But they disappeared over the years. The passengers really didn't cost money for them. But it was a pain to deal with a 75 cent customer. If anything was not right . So they were not encouraged at the end. Many appeared in the train off notices in the last month before Amtrak to the shock of the public! it was over, Amtrak in a deal with the railraods got rid of all of them on the member railroads. Short Lines, Soo Line, and Boston and Maine continued.

That is an interesting story I didn't know you could do that.

They put the soo what I'm commuter rail o tell yhea

Georgia RR got a tax break but it wasn't tied to passenger.