While many of the other railroads in the area had existed since the 1870s and 1880s, the Soo Line was late to the game. During the first decade of the 20th Century, the company built an extensive amount of both branch lines and mainlines throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota.
This route served as a primary east-west route, connecting to the main line between Minneapolis and Winnipeg at Thief River Falls, and the Minneapolis-Portal mainline at Kenmare.
In 1984, Canadian Pacific Railway took control of the Soo Line, and made it a full subsidiary in 1990. While the Soo Line name still existed, Canadian Pacific controlled operations of this route.
Despite being a significant connecting line, the Soo Line leased the route to the Northern Plains Railroad in 1997, who continues to operate this line. The only significant abandonment on this line a segment from Kramer to Bisbee, which was removed in 2009. Today, the portion from Thief River Falls to Fordville is known as the Devils Lake Subdivision.
07/17/21
Located between Ardoch and Oslo along North Dakota Highway 54, this bridge crosses the North Marais River just east of Interstate 29.
Built in approximately 1905, the bridge features an attractive deck plate girder span, set onto timber substructures. The bridge utilizes a very common design seen throughout the Soo Line system, including a long trestle approach.
This style bridge was commonly used on branch lines, where a larger span was required, but a permanent substructure was not. Oftentimes, these girder spans would be moved from a mainline to replace several trestle spans. It is unknown if that is the case here.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in fair condition, with no major deterioration noted. Unfortunately, no plaques could be found on the bridge. The author will attempt to find more information on this structure.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.