Duluth Missabe & Northern

Company History: The DM&N was built in 1891 and 1892 to move iron ore from Minnesota’s Missabe Range to the lake port at Alllouez in Superior, Wisconsin. Note that Missabe has a number of different spellings so we’ll go with the railroad’s version. The latter was reached via trackage rights on the Duluth & Winnipeg but it wasn’t long before the DM&N built their own line to their own docks at Duluth. In the wake of the panic of 1893, John D. Rockefeller assumed control of the railroad and the mines it served. The Missabe Range turned out to be far richer than the neighboring Vermilion Range (whose earlier railroads had the opportunity but no interest in building into the Missabe.) DM&N’s docks in Duluth had to be tripled in size. In 1901, Rockefeller sold his stake in DM&N to U.S. Steel who also purchased the Duluth & Iron Range Rail Road. The two continued to operate separately although gradually certain management functions were combined. In 1930, DM&N leased the D&IR and operations were combined. By 1937, DM&N had 540 miles of line connecting iron mining operations in Coloraine, Hibbing and Virginia, Minnesota with the ports of Duluth and Superior. They had 131 locomotives including a dozen 2-8-8-2’s and sixteen 2-10-2’s. They even had a quartet of 0-10-0 heavy switchers. In 1937, the Spirit Lake Transfer Railway merged with DM&N to form Duluth Missabe & Iron Range. The Duluth & Iron Range, which was still under lease, was absorbed the following year.

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