USS ALASKA
Captain
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2016
D M & I R
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range
Dam* Miserable and IrRate
Duluth, Misanthropic and Iron Range
Doing More Income Reduced
The Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway (DM&IR) (reporting mark DMIR), informally known as the Missabe Road, is a railroad operating in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin that hauls iron ore and later taconite to the Great Lakes ports of Duluth and Two Harbors, Minnesota. Control of the railway was acquired on May 10, 2004, by the Canadian National Railway (CN) when it purchased the assets of Great Lakes Transportation.
The DM&IR was formed by the merger in 1937 of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway (DM&N) and the Spirit Lake Transfer Railway. The following year, the Duluth and Iron Range Rail Road (D&IR) and Interstate Transfer Railway were added. All of these had been leased by the DM&N since 1930.
The D&IR was formed in 1874 by Charlemagne Tower to haul iron ore from the Minnesota Iron Co. in Tower, Minnesota, to the new Lake Superior port of Two Harbors, Minnesota. On July 31, 1884, the D&IR carried its first ore shipment from the Soudan Mine. In 1887, the D&IR was acquired by Illinois Steel Company, which itself became part of the new United States Steel Corporation (USS) in 1901.
After high-grade Mesabi iron ore was discovered near Mountain Iron, Minnesota by the Seven Iron Men, the D&IR was asked to build a branch line to serve this area, but declined. So in 1891, the Merritts incorporated the DM&N, which shipped its first load of iron ore to Superior, Wisconsin, in October 1892. The following year, the Merritts expanded the DM&N by laying track to Duluth, Minnesota, where they built an ore dock. But this expansion left the Merritts on shaky financial ground, and in 1894, John D. Rockefeller gained control of the railway. In 1901, Rockefeller sold the DM&N to USS.
From 1901 to 1938, the two railways were owned by USS and operated separately. Total ore hauled by the two railroads peaked in 1929 at 27.8 million tons (long tons of 2240 lbs) and dropped to 1.5 million tons in 1932.
By July 1938, the two railways merged to form the DM&IR. The two operating divisions, the Missabe and the Iron Range, were based upon the predecessor roads. As the United States began to prepare for the Second World War, the iron ore tonnage moving over the Missabe Road acclerated from a little over 8 million tons in 1938, past 18 million tons in 1939, then to almost 28 million tons in 1940 and past 37 million tons in 1941.
The first eight of DM&IR's class M 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone locomotives were delivered by Baldwin Locomotive Works in spring 1941. As well as the Yellowstones, the DM&IR had heavy 2-8-8-2 articulated's (also Class M), 2-8-2 Mikados, 2-10-2 Santa Fe's and eventually 2-10-4 Texas types from B&LE. Ore movement was nearly 45 million tons in 1942 and the War Production Board allowed the Missabe to order ten more Yellowstones, delivered in 1943. The 2-8-8-4's were slowly retired in the latter half of the '50s and the last remaining served until around 1960.
Map of the DM&IR. Solid lines are track still in use; dotted lines are abandoned track
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth,_Missabe_and_Iron_Range_Railway
2861
Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range
Dam* Miserable and IrRate
Duluth, Misanthropic and Iron Range
Doing More Income Reduced
The Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway (DM&IR) (reporting mark DMIR), informally known as the Missabe Road, is a railroad operating in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin that hauls iron ore and later taconite to the Great Lakes ports of Duluth and Two Harbors, Minnesota. Control of the railway was acquired on May 10, 2004, by the Canadian National Railway (CN) when it purchased the assets of Great Lakes Transportation.
The DM&IR was formed by the merger in 1937 of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway (DM&N) and the Spirit Lake Transfer Railway. The following year, the Duluth and Iron Range Rail Road (D&IR) and Interstate Transfer Railway were added. All of these had been leased by the DM&N since 1930.
The D&IR was formed in 1874 by Charlemagne Tower to haul iron ore from the Minnesota Iron Co. in Tower, Minnesota, to the new Lake Superior port of Two Harbors, Minnesota. On July 31, 1884, the D&IR carried its first ore shipment from the Soudan Mine. In 1887, the D&IR was acquired by Illinois Steel Company, which itself became part of the new United States Steel Corporation (USS) in 1901.
After high-grade Mesabi iron ore was discovered near Mountain Iron, Minnesota by the Seven Iron Men, the D&IR was asked to build a branch line to serve this area, but declined. So in 1891, the Merritts incorporated the DM&N, which shipped its first load of iron ore to Superior, Wisconsin, in October 1892. The following year, the Merritts expanded the DM&N by laying track to Duluth, Minnesota, where they built an ore dock. But this expansion left the Merritts on shaky financial ground, and in 1894, John D. Rockefeller gained control of the railway. In 1901, Rockefeller sold the DM&N to USS.
From 1901 to 1938, the two railways were owned by USS and operated separately. Total ore hauled by the two railroads peaked in 1929 at 27.8 million tons (long tons of 2240 lbs) and dropped to 1.5 million tons in 1932.
By July 1938, the two railways merged to form the DM&IR. The two operating divisions, the Missabe and the Iron Range, were based upon the predecessor roads. As the United States began to prepare for the Second World War, the iron ore tonnage moving over the Missabe Road acclerated from a little over 8 million tons in 1938, past 18 million tons in 1939, then to almost 28 million tons in 1940 and past 37 million tons in 1941.
The first eight of DM&IR's class M 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone locomotives were delivered by Baldwin Locomotive Works in spring 1941. As well as the Yellowstones, the DM&IR had heavy 2-8-8-2 articulated's (also Class M), 2-8-2 Mikados, 2-10-2 Santa Fe's and eventually 2-10-4 Texas types from B&LE. Ore movement was nearly 45 million tons in 1942 and the War Production Board allowed the Missabe to order ten more Yellowstones, delivered in 1943. The 2-8-8-4's were slowly retired in the latter half of the '50s and the last remaining served until around 1960.
Map of the DM&IR. Solid lines are track still in use; dotted lines are abandoned track
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth,_Missabe_and_Iron_Range_Railway
2861
Cheers,
USS ALASKA