Railroad Maps and Drawings
Scope and Contents
Maps and drawings relating to Duluth & Iron Range Railroad, and Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad. Some of the material is related to the Iron Ranges, including locations and towns including Mckinely, Sparta, and Hibbing.
Dates
- 1892-1920
Creator
- Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway Company (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use in the Kathryn A. Martin Library, Archives and Special Collections.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.
Historical Note:
The Duluth and Iron Range Railroad Company and the Duluth, Missabe and Northern, both owned by United States Steel Corporation, were operated as one system from 1901 to 1937, although they were not formally merged. The DM&N leased the properties of the D&IR in early 1930. On July 1, 1937 the DM&N and the Spirit Lake Transfer Railway Company consolidated to form the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway Company (DM&IR). In March 1938 the property and assets of the D&IR and the Interstate Transfer Railway Company were transferred to the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range. Interstate Transfer was subsequently dissolved on June 28, 1938, and the D&IR was dissolved July 7, 1938. The surviving company, The Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range, had two separate operating divisions: The Missabe Division, operating the former DM&N trackage on the western portion of the system, and the Iron Range Division, operating the former D&IR trackage on the eastern portion of the system.
Soft high-grade iron ore began to run out on the Vermilion and Missabe iron ranges in the mid-1950s, and at that time development of northeastern Minnesota's taconite industry began in earnest. With the passage of the Taconite Amendment in 1963 the construction of taconite plants along the DM&IR proceeded with the Eveleth Taconite Company's plant at Forbes, Minnesota coming into operation around 1965 and United States Steel Corporation's large Minntac taconite pellet plant at Mountain Iron beginning operation in October 1967.
In 1988 the DM&IR, a wholly-owned subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation, was sold to Transtar Inc., Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Transtar was a holding company owned in part by the Blackstone Group and USX Corporation (formerly known as United States Steel Corporation). In 2001 the railroad became part of Great Lakes Transportation, a privately-held transportation holding company with principal operations in railroad freight and transportation, Great Lakes shipping, and inland river barging.
In 2002 the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway was said to be the largest iron ore handling railroad in North America, with 212 miles of track. Its primary mission was to move ore from Minnesota's Missabe Range taconite plants to DM&IR dock facilities at Duluth and Two Harbors, or to connecting railroads at Superior, Wisconsin.
Extent
36.00 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Maps and drawings relating to Duluth & Iron Range Railroad, and Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad.
Physical Location
This collection is located at the University of Minnesota Duluth Archives. For more information about this collection or to make an appointment, contact us at libarchives@d.umn.edu or 218-726-8526.
General
This collection is part of the Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, which are housed in the University of Minnesota Duluth Archives at the Kathryn A. Martin Library, and are on permanent loan from the St. Louis County Historical Society.
- Drawings Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Duluth & Iron Range Railroad Company
- Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway Company
- Hibbing (Minn.) Subject Source: Local sources
- Iron ranges Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Iron ranges--Minnesota Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Maps Subject Source: Local sources
- Railroads Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Railroad Maps and Drawings
- Author
- Finding Aid Authors: P. Maus.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Collecting Area Details
Contact The University of Minnesota Duluth Archives and Special Collections Collecting Area
Kathryn A. Martin Library
University of Minnesota Duluth
416 Library Drive
Duluth MN 55812-3001
(218) 726-8526
libarchives@d.umn.edu