Today's Train of Though- Either Ore, Dec, 20, 2010

Today's Train of Though takes us to the nothern reaches of Minnesota and iron ore country in the grip of one of their notoriously frigid winters.

For nearly 70 years, the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range earned its keep hauling iron ore and later taconite from the mines to the north and west of Duluth, MN to the massive ore hauling ships waiting at the Twin Harbors. There also has been significant limestone traffic on the DM&IR as well.

The Canadian National reached the Twin Harbors from the west by way of its Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific subsidiary. In the 1990s, both Canadian railroads were looking to expedite traffic from Western Canada to Chicago. The CP had an advantage in that it had a wholly owned subsidiary in the Soo Line, which ran from the US/Canadian border at Portal, ND to Chicago by way of the twin cities.

Until 2001, Canadian National had to rely on agreements with American railroads to compete with Chicago-bound traffic from CP. In October of that year, the now privately-held Canadian National purchased super-reigonal Wisconsin Central, giving CN nearly direct access to Chicago from the Duluth-Superior area. The only hinderance at the time was a gap of roughly 10 miles on the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range between the end of the DW&P trackage and beginning of the former Wisconsin Central rails.

For CN, this problem was resolved nearly three years later with the May 2004 Purchase of the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range's parent company, Great Lakes Transportation (itself a spinoff from US Steel). The Canadian National's acquisition of Great Lakes Transportation not only gave them the DM&IR, but also the Elgin Joliet & Eastern in Chicago and western Pennsylvania's Bessemer & Lake Erie.

The CN still serviced the mines, ore docks and steel mills on its respective former Great Lakes Transportation property, but it was becoming increasingly interested in increasing capacity on the DM&IR and EJ&E.

And like other railroads purchased by Canadian National, the locomotives and rolling stock bearing the DM&IR colors would be on their way out, either sold off or repainted into Canadaian National colors (see Wisconsin Central, BC Rail). However, railpictures.net contributor Scott Carney snapped Iron Range SD38 #205 leads two bretheren dutifully charging uphill and around Spirit Mtn Curve (featuring a commanding view of Superior, WI) with a load of empty ore cars heading back to the mines on a snowy March 2007 day.

Most of the SD38s would be gone from Iron Range property by the end of 2009, replaced by power from elsewhere on the CN system.