The Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad (G&LS) is a defunct Minnesota

logging railroad A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felling, felled logs to sawmills or railway stations. In most cases th ...

that operated in the

Thunder Bay District Thunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district seat is Thunder Bay. In 2016, the population was 146,048. The land area is ; the population density was . Most of ...

of northwestern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and in

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

of northeastern

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. The G&LS was built in 1902 by the Pigeon River Lumber Company to harvest primarily

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

and

norway pine ''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in trun ...

from the eastern side of Gunflint Lake. The logs were then transported to the company's sawmill in Port Arthur to be processed. The line originated at the Canadian Northern Railway-Duluth Extension (PAD&W Railway) at Little Gunflint Lake, crossed the

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

, travelled along the east side of Gunflint Lake south to Crab Lake, and then east to Whisker Lake. This line was used until 1909 when it was abandoned and a forest fire destroyed a 1000-foot trestle on the PAD&W at North Lake and severed the line. The rails were removed circa 1915-1916.Gunflint & Lake Superior RR
/ref>

Locomotives

References

External links

"Gunflint and Lake Superior Videos"
by D. Battistel. ''

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

''.
"Shay Locomotive SN-683"
Defunct Ontario railways Defunct Minnesota railroads Logging railways in Canada {{US-rail-transport-stub