Lake States Transportation Division (LSTD) was a wholly owned division of the Soo Line Railroad

Soo Line Railroad

The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , 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...

 that existed from 1986-1987.

The bankruptcy of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...

 (MILW) saw the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

's subsidiary Soo Line Railroad

Soo Line Railroad

The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , 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...

 acquire its routes to add trackage between Chicago and the Twin Cities in 1985. The Interstate Commerce Commission

Interstate Commerce Commission

The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...

 mandated that Soo Line must divest of some lines in the interest of preserving competition.

Soo Line created the LSTD in 1986 to operate the original Soo Line main line from Forest Park, Illinois

Forest Park, Illinois

Forest Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in the United States. The population was 15,688 at the 2000 census...

 to Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

 via Withrow, Minnesota

Withrow, Minnesota

Withrow is an unincorporated village on the edge of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was formally absorbed into the cities of Hugo, Grant and May Township in Washington County...

, as well as from Withrow to Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, and branch lines from Argonne, Wisconsin

Argonne, Wisconsin

Argonne is a town in Forest County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 512 at the 2010 census. The census-designated place of Argonne is located in the town...

 to Neenah

Neenah, Wisconsin

Neenah is a city on Lake Winnebago in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 24,507 at the 2000 census. The city is bordered by, but is politically independent of, the Town of Neenah. Neenah is the southwestern-most of the Fox Cities of Northeast Wisconsin...

 and former MILW branch lines from Green Bay

Green Bay, Wisconsin

Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...

 to Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

.

CPR's Soo Line subsidiary operated the LSTD with tri-weekly service on main lines and less frequently on branch lines.

The entire LSTD was sold to newly formed Wisconsin Central Ltd.

Wisconsin Central Transportation

Wisconsin Central Ltd. is a railroad subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway. At one time, its parent Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation owned or operated railroads in the United States, Canada , the United Kingdom , New Zealand , and Australia .- Overview...

in 1987 as per the ICC ruling.