Todays Train of Thought- Iron Range Rollers, December 14, 2011

Today's train of thought takes us to Northern Minnesota's Iron Range and is something of a blast from the past.

While many people have no doubt associated Minnesota with terrible football, Garrison Keilor and seemingly endless, flat farmland, the northeastern corner along Duluth and the western and northern shore of Lake Superior is both hilly, forested and home to iron ore and taconite mines.

Throughout most of its history, the Duluth Missabe and Iron Range has essentially acted as a conveyor belt for hauling ore and limestone from the mines to the west of Duluth, MN and Superior, WI to the massive loading docks along Lake Superior in Two Harbors, MN.

After Canadian National's 2001 purchase of the Wisconsin Central, a short 10-mile gap existed in the Twin Harbors area between the former WC line between Superior, WI and Chicago and CN's Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific between the Twin Harbors and Winnipeg, MB. In May 2004, Canadian National purchased the DM&IR as well as Pennsylvania's Bessemer & Lake Erie from Great Lakes Transportation, closing the 10-mile gap between Winnipeg & Chicago (while still continuing to operate ore trains between the mines and docks).

Here, railpictures.net contributor Dave Schauer caught DM&IR SD38-2 #213 and a pair of maroon SD40T-2s trailing while coasting down Proctor Hill in Duluth, MN with a loaded ore train bound for one of the docks amid peak fall colors in October 2004, a few months after the CN takeover.

Such scenes are impossible to repeat today, as the SD38s have been sold, retired or scrapped and although some of the SD40T-2 Tunnel Motors remain, they gave since been repainted into CN colors.

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.