Soo Line #1003
Santa Train Special

On Friday and Saturday Soo Line #1003 came out for a late season outing to pull a Santa Train Special from Hartford, WI to Plymouth, WI and return. 

Some of the trackage used by #1003 north of Milwaukee on the trip has not seen a steam locomotive in over 50 years.  The tracks only occasionally see revenue trains.  So speeds were 10mph.  Adding to the feeling of Christmas was a snowstorm. 

On Saturday December 15, 2007 the #1003 departed Plymouth in a snowstorm.  The storm enhanced by Lake Michigan dumped about 7 inches of snow in the Milwaukee area.  The large snowflakes made some interesting shots of the the #1003 heading south back to Hartford. 

Click on the thumbnail photos to see larger images. The larger image is not the actual size of the photo it is only about 20% of the actual size. Original Photo size is 3072x2048 pixels.

With no wye or turntable in Plymouth, #1003 was pulled up there by WSOR locomotive.  Here at 8pm the #1003 sits in Random Lake, WI while waiting for a new WSOR crew. 
All of the above photos are from Plymouth.  Kids could line up and see Santa in the Milwaukee Road caboose.   Then around 12noon the #1003 backed through town and left with a run-by at the depot.  With Santa waving from the rear of the caboose. 

Southbound at Hwy U north of Waldo, WI 

Hwy W north of Adell, WI

Abbott Drive north of Random Lake, WI 

Above photos from Saukville, WI at Hwy 33 crossing

It was great to see the Soo #1003 come out so late in the season to run this Santa Special.  There were alot of people in Plymouth who came out to see the train.  BIG THANKS to the crew and owners of #1003 and all the sponsors from the Plymouth.  Plus the Wisconsin Southern and Canadian National railroads for allowing the #1003 to run. 

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All Photos above were taken by Keith Schmidt Copyright 2007