The Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway (DM&IR) , informally known as the Missabe Road, was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

operating in northern

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

that used to haul

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

and later

taconite Taconite () is a variety of banded iron formation, an iron-bearing (over 15% iron) sedimentary rock, in which the iron minerals are interlayered with quartz, chert, or carbonate. The name ''taconyte'' was coined by Horace Vaughn Winchell (1865– ...

to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

ports of

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

and

Two Harbors, Minnesota Two Harbors is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Minnesota, United States, along the shore of Lake Superior. The population was 3,633 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Minnesota State Highway 61 serves as a main route i ...

. Control of the railway was acquired on May 10, 2004, by the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

(CN) when it purchased the assets of Great Lakes Transportation.

History

The DM&IR was formed by the merger in 1937 of the

Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway The Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway (DM&N, DMN) was a rail transport, railroad company in the United States, U.S. state of Minnesota. It was one of the earliest iron ore hauling railroads of the area, said to have built the largest iron ore d ...

(DM&N) and the Spirit Lake Transfer Railway. The following year, the

Duluth and Iron Range Rail Road The Duluth and Iron Range Railroad Railway Equipment and Publication CompanyThe Official Railway Equipment Register June 1917, p. 582 was founded in 1874. In 1884, it ran the first main line train between Two Harbors and Soudan, Minnesota, a tota ...

(D&IR) and

Interstate Transfer Railway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National H ...

were added. All of these had been leased by the DM&N since 1930. The D&IR was formed in 1874 by

Charlemagne Tower Charlemagne Tower (April 18, 1809 – July 25, 1889''New York Times,'' July 26, 1889, page 4.) was an American lawyer and businessman active in acquiring land in the Schuylkill Valley in Pennsylvania and serving as an officer for coal and railr ...

to haul iron ore from the Minnesota Iron Co. in

Tower, Minnesota Tower is a city located in St. Louis County, Minnesota, Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 430. State Highways 1 (Minnesota State Highway 1, MN 1), 1 ...

, to the new

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

port of

. On July 31, 1884, the D&IR carried its first ore shipment from the

Soudan Mine The Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park is a Minnesota state park at the site of the Soudan Underground Mine, on the south shore of Lake Vermilion, in the Vermilion Range (Minnesota). The mine is known as Minnesota's oldest, dee ...

. In 1887, the D&IR was acquired by

Illinois Steel Company The Illinois Steel Company was an American steel producer with five plants in Illinois and Wisconsin. Founded through a consolidation in 1889, Illinois Steel grew to become the largest steel producer in the United States. In 1898, several other s ...

, which itself became part of the new

United States Steel Corporation The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe. The company produces and sells steel products, ...

(USS) in 1901. After high-grade Mesabi iron ore was discovered near

Mountain Iron, Minnesota Mountain Iron is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States, in the heart of the Mesabi Range. The population was 2,878 at the 2020 census. U.S. Highway 169 serves as a main route in Mountain Iron. The city's motto is " Taconi ...

by the

Seven Iron Men The Seven Iron Men, also known as the Merritt brothers, were iron-ore pioneers in the Mesabi Range in northeastern Minnesota and the creation of the city that is now known as Mountain Iron. In the late 1800s, the Merritt family founded the larges ...

, 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 Superior (; ) is a city in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,751 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the western end of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin, the city l ...

, in October 1892. The following year, the Merritts expanded the DM&N by laying track to

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

, where they built an

ore dock An ore dock is a large structure used for loading ore (typically from railway cars or ore jennies) onto ships, which then carry the ore to steelworks or to transshipment points. Most known ore docks were constructed near iron mines on the upper ...

. But this expansion left the Merritts on shaky financial ground, and in 1894,

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the List of richest Americans in history, wealthiest Americans of all time and one of the richest people in modern hist ...

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 and dropped to in 1932.

Merger

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 entered the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the iron ore tonnage moving over the ''Missabe Road'' accelerated from a little over in 1938, past in 1939, then to almost in 1940 and past in 1941. The first eight of DM&IR's class M

2-8-8-4 A 2-8-8-4 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation, has two leading wheels, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. The type was generally named the ''Yellowstone'', a name given it by the first owner, the Northern Pa ...

Yellowstone locomotives were delivered by

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

in spring 1941. As well as the Yellowstones, the DM&IR had heavy

2-8-8-2 A 2-8-8-2, in the Whyte notation for describing steam locomotive wheel arrangements, is an articulated locomotive with a two-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a two-wheel trailing truck. The equivalent UIC classification ...

articulated's (also Class M),

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wh ...

Mikados,

2-10-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, ten powered and coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels. In the United States and elsewhere the is known as th ...

Santa Fe's and eventually

2-10-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a locomotive has two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a Bissel truck, ten coupled driving wheels on five axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles, usually in a bog ...

Texas types from B&LE. Ore movement was nearly in 1942 and the

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Su ...

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.

Dieselization and post-war growth

After World War II, the DM&IR hauled increasing tonnage to the ore docks along Lake Superior, reaching a record of over 49 million tons in 1953. That year the first

diesel locomotives A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

EMD SW9 The EMD SW9 is a model of diesel switcher locomotives built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between November 1950 and December 1953. Additional SW9s were built by General Motors Diesel in London Ontario Canada from December 1950 to M ...

s, arrived on the railway. In 1954, a set of Baldwin DR-4-4-15 "Sharknose" diesels arrived from the

Elgin, Joliet and Eastern The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was a Class II railroad, making a roughly circular path between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary, Indiana. The railroad served as a link between Class I railroads traveling to and from Chicago, although it operat ...

(a fellow U.S. Steel railroad), though they were returned to

when the EJ&E contract expired in 1955. Dieselization continued with the purchase of several

EMD SD9 The EMD SD9 is a model of diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and June 1959. An EMD 567C 16-cylinder engine generated . Externally similar to its predecessor, the SD7, the SD9 was built with ...

road switcher A road switcher locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive designed to both haul railroad car, railcars in mainline service and Shunting (rail), shunt them in railroad yards. Both type and term are North American in origin, although similar t ...

s the following year, while the last revenue steam run occurred in 1962. Passenger service on the Missabe division ended in 1957 and completely ceased system-wide in 1961. As the supply of high-quality iron ore dwindled, mines and pits were closing across Minnesota's

iron ranges Iron is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the abundance of the chemical ...

. The DM&IR's ore docks in Two Harbors closed in 1963 and did not reopen until 1966. The Missabe Road was saved by the passage on November 3, 1963, of the Taconite Amendment to the

Minnesota State Constitution The Constitution of the State of Minnesota was initially approved by the residents of Minnesota Territory in a special election held on October 13, 1857, and was ratified by the United States Senate on May 11, 1858, marking the admittance of Min ...

(the amendment restricted the state's ability to tax a

industry for 25 years). The passage of the amendment accelerated the creation of the taconite mining industry in Northern Minnesota. The

Eveleth Taconite Company Eveleth is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Decker Eveleth, American researcher *Rose Eveleth, American podcast host, producer, designer, and animator See also *Eveleth, Minnesota Eveleth is a city in St. Louis County, Mi ...

was formed in 1964 and on April 8, 1966, the took on the first load of Eveleth taconite pellets, about . The taconite era on the Missabe had begun.

Ownership and CN merger

In 1988, U.S. Steel, now USX, spun off the DM&IR and their other ore railroads and shipping companies into the subsidiary Transtar, then sold majority control to the

Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman ...

and USX. In 2001, the DM&IR and other holdings were spun off from Transtar into the company Great Lakes Transportation (GLT), which was fully owned by the Blackstone Group. For the first time in more than 100 years DM&IR was no longer associated with U.S. Steel. In late 2003, the Blackstone Group agreed to sell GLT to

and the purchase was completed on May 10, 2004.

Merger with Wisconsin Central

In December 2011, the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway was merged into

Wisconsin Central Ltd. Wisconsin Central Ltd. is a railroad subsidiary of Canadian National. At one time, its parent Wisconsin Central Transportation Corporation owned or operated railroads in the United States, Canada (Algoma Central Railway), the United Kingdom (DB ...

, which is also controlled by Canadian National Railway. This merger was intended to increase efficiency.

Notes

References

External links

Missabe Railroad Historical SocietyDM&IR History
(Archived on 19 October 2007 from CN website)
www.missabe.com/cms/catalog/decals

DULUTH, MISSABE, AND IRON RANGE RAILWAY: An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society
*

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). It administers three programs established to document historic places in the United States: Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American E ...

(HAER) documentation, filed under Two Harbors, Lake County, MN: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Duluth Missabe Iron Range Railway Canadian National Railway subsidiaries Companies based in Minnesota Former Class I railroads in the United States Former regional railroads in the United States Historic American Engineering Record in Minnesota History of Minnesota History of Wisconsin Minnesota railroads Predecessors of the Canadian National Railway Railway companies established in 1937 Transportation in Douglas County, Wisconsin Transportation in Duluth, Minnesota Transportation in Lake County, Minnesota Transportation in St. Louis County, Minnesota Wisconsin railroads Railway companies disestablished in 2011 American companies established in 1937