Mineral Range

Company History: This MR should not be confused with the original Mineral Range that ran on the Keewenaw Peninsula and was acquired by Duluth South Shore & Atlantic in 1949.

This Mineral Range runs a former Chicago & North Western route from a connection with Canadian National at Winthrop Junction (not far from Ishpeming) to Pluto on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The line is just 4 miles long and had for years just two customers, a scrap yard and an explosives plant. From 1998 to 2012, the line was operated by Al Vreeland who also worked at the explosives plant. Officially the railroad was called Vreeland Rail during the period but the line’s SW-1 was still lettered for Mineral Range. Vreeland died in 2012 and the line officially became Mineral Range Railroad again. In 2014, this sleepy operation got a big boost when it began serving the Lundun Mining copper operation west of Negaunee. The SW-1 has been replaced with a newer switcher along with a geep to move the heavy loads of copper.

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