Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway

The Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway (DM&IR) was a small railroad that hauled iron ore and taconite from the mines of northern Minnesota’s Mesabi and Vermilion Iron Ranges to docks on Lake Superior at Duluth and Two Harbors. It operated in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The railroad was formed in 1938 with the merger of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern (DM&N) and several smaller area railroads. One of these, the Duluth and Iron Range (D&IR,) had been organized in 1874. Charlemagne Tower took control of the line in 1882 to haul ore from the self-named city of Tower to the newly established port of Two Harbors. The first shipment of iron ore from the large Soudan Mine took place on July 31, 1884. Illinois Steel acquired the railroad in 1887.

The DM&N was formed in 1891 to haul ore from Mountain Iron to Superior and Duluth. The railroad shipped iron ore to Superior for the first time the following year. The Merritt brothers ushered in its creation when they discovered and began mining iron ore at Mountain Iron. The brothers, also known as the Seven Iron Men, were instrumental in the development of the iron range.

The Merritts built a dock at Duluth for the railroad in 1893, but the expansion proved a considerable financial drain. Famous financier John D. Rockefeller was therefore able to maneuver the company into his hands in 1894. Both the DM&N and the D&IR were sold to Rockefeller’s U.S. Steel Corporation in 1901.

The two railroads operated separately until 1938, when they were combined along with the Spirit Lake Transfer and the Interstate Transfer to become the DM&IR. The DM&N had already leased the other railroads since 1930. The new DM&IR had large docks at Two Harbors and Duluth to convey ore to ships on Lake Superior. It was operated in two divisions, based on the predecessor railroads. The western section, which made up the former DM&N, became the Missabe division. The eastern section was based on the route of the old D&IR and was known as the Iron Range division.

Since its primary purpose was bringing iron ore to the docks for shipment or to connecting railroads at Superior, the DM&IR hauled considerable tonnage. The railroad hauled over 37 million tons of ore in 1941. Long trains could consist of well over 100 ore cars, or jennies, and weigh over 8,000 tons. The line also featured inclines such as Proctor Hill, a 2.2% grade from the company ore docks at Duluth to the large classification yard seven miles away at Proctor.

To facilitate such large trains, the railroad utilized several different types of powerful steam locomotives. Most notable were the unique Yellowstone locomotives made by Baldwin Locomotive Works. They were exceptionally large locomotives with a 2-8-8-4 wheel classification. Although the railroad initially ordered eight in 1941, ten more of these giants were ordered to keep up with wartime ore movements in 1943.

In 1953, the railroad hauled its record of 49 million tons of iron ore, and the first diesel locomotives appeared. The DM&IR came to rely heavily on the EMD SD9 for motive power. The last steam locomotive ran in 1961. Never a significant source of traffic on the line, the railroad ended passenger operations that same year.

The amount of available iron ore had been drying up since the 1950s. Many facilities closed, and by 1963, the railroad had closed the docks at Two Harbors. In order to rectify the shortage, Minnesota passed the Taconite Amendment to the state constitution on November 3 of that year, limiting taxation of the nascent taconite mining industry. Taconite plants were constructed, new facilities opened, and by 1966, ships were once again receiving trainloads at the docks.

In 1988, the railroad was sold off to a holding company of U.S. Steel and then sold off completely from them in 2001. The railroad was ultimately absorbed into the Canadian National Railway system in 2004.