Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway (MBI Railroad Color History) [Hardcover]

John Leopard (Author)

Book Description

Series: MBI Railroad Color History | Publication Date: November 10, 2005

This illustrated look at the history the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railroad begins with a brief look back at its late-nineteenth-century origins in the Duluth & Iron Range and Duluth, Missabe & Northern railroads. The bulk of the book, however, covers the period from 1937-when those two roads merged under U.S. Steel-to today. Along the way, readers will learn about and witness the road's legendary early steam power, the evolution of its unique mining operations, its switch to diesel power in the 1950s, and its modern fleet and operations. About the AuthorJeff Lemke is the advertising director for RailModel Journal magazine. His photography has been featured TRAINS, Model Railroader, and RailModel Journal. He lives in Bloomingdale, Illinois.Hardcover - 8-1/4" x 10-5/8" - 160 pp - 125 color, 75 b/w

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Lexington Quarterly, March 2006 (circ. unavailable)

“John Leopard’s new book is a very fitting tribute to the legacy and traditions of the DM & IR Railway and the high standards under which it was operated and maintained. Overall, this book is a fine send-off to one of the most admired of the smaller railways of the U.S.”

Railroad History, Fall/Winter 2006

“Considering its modest price, this book is worth acquiring if only for the gorgeous color pictures of latter-day Missabe operations before Canadian National acquired the property in 2004.”

Michigan Railfan, March/April 2007

“While other books have been prepared on the contemporary DM & IR, this well-balanced presentation is a cut above.”

About the Author

John Leopard lives in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: MBI (November 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760317623
• ISBN-13: 978-0760317624
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,955,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read, January 15, 2006

By 

Tony (Auckland New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway (MBI Railroad Color History) (Hardcover)

A very interesting book on the DM&IR. It covered the birth and development of the US Steel Corporation. An explanation of the development of Taconite (Low grade ore) was very informative as well.
The book is littered with many glorious colour photos, pricipally of the diesel era- locomotives and mine/mill/Dock operations . But scattered throughout the book are many B&W photos from the steam era. A bonus for me was several colour photos of the mighty 2-8-8-4 "Yellowstone"

Tony

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, March 16, 2006

By 

David F. Zarth (Hammond, In. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway (MBI Railroad Color History) (Hardcover)

As a long time fan of the DM&IR I really enjoyed this volume.
Great color!

5.0 out of 5 stars History of a railroad now part of CN, June 2, 2010

By 

Bill Hough (San Jose) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway (MBI Railroad Color History) (Hardcover)

Minnesota's Iron Range is one of those legendary places that seems to receive attention in the railfan world out of proportion to its size. The Iron Range has been the source of raw materials for the steel industry for over a century and the railroads that were built to connect the mines with the ports on Lake Superior have historically attracted a great deal of railfan interest over the years. Railfans arriving in the area's major city, Duluth, should stop in at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and pick up a copy of The Twin Ports Railfan Guide, a handy little magazine that is helpful for first time visitors to learn the lay of the land. And now they can also get a book that presents the history of the area's most famous railroad, the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railway.

With Canadian National acquiring DM&IR in 2004, the time was right to publish a history of the latter company and its predecessors, the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad and the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway. John Leopard, a former DM&IR employee now working for Canadian Pacific, brings us the interesting story of the railroad and also manages to cover several related topics such as the area mining and steel plants, lake shipping and passenger operations. Leopard also covers other taconite-related rail operators in the area such as Erie Mining/LTV and Reserve Mining. But the main story is how DM&IR formed from its two predecessors and survived to the beginning of the 21st Century.

After an introduction covering some general iron range history, Leopard begins with the development of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad, which built the line feeding the port of Two Harbors. Shortly afterward, D&IR built the line between Two Harbors that's now the North Shore Scenic Railroad described in the sidebar on pages 108-109. Meanwhile, Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway built the Duluth-based network that served the mines of Mountain Iron, Virginia and Biwabik. D&IR was also responsible for the landmark line between Duluth and Proctor via the famous Proctor Hill. Loaded trains would bring their ore to the docks at Duluth where it would be loaded onto ships for onward shipment. Returning empties climb the hill to the large years and shops at Proctor.

The next chapter relates the story of how the D&IR and DM&N came under the control of the rapidly expanding United States Steel Corporation during the early 20th Century. Also during this time, the rail network was expanded as more ore was found and the mining technology improved. Later, DM&N, using "paper" subsidiaries, built a line into neighboring Wisconsin to serve a steel mill and connect with other railroads.

In the late 1930s, US Steel consolidated its various railroads in the region into the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway Company, a name that would survive until 2004. Meanwhile, as time went on, ore mining was gradually replaced by the mining of taconite and the processing of same into pellets for ease of transport. The shift to taconite was facilitated by changes to Minnesota's tax regulations and finally a "Taconite Amendment" was passed by the state's electorate in 1964. Reformed tax laws made taconite mining a viable proposition. Leopard then describes some of the issues related to the shipment of these distinctive pellets for which the Iron Range has become well known.

Chapter 5 discusses the "Missabe in Modern Times". Tough times for the steel companies led to changes for USX, the re-named US Steel. USX transportation subsidiaries were spun off into subsidiary Transtar [not to be confused with the short-lived, Texas-based airline successor to Muse Air] in the late 1980s. Later, Transtar would spin off DM&IR and other companies to Great Lakes Transportation LLC.

The conversion from ore to taconite meant that more unit trains were operating on DM&IR rails, resulting in a streamlining of operations and reductions in the physical plant. Chapter 6 discusses "modern" operations on DM&IR during the last two decades, including the Miscellaneous Road Freight that operates between Proctor and Twin Harbors with various types of cargo including various types of raw materials. We learn that DM&IR carries freight other than taconite, and what some of that freight is.

Chapter 7 is a detailed look at DM&IR motive power over the decades since the 1938 merger. Leopard writes "the case could be made that the Missabe had the most interesting roster of steam locomotives of any railroad its size", a case that is made in this section. DM&IR's best known steam locomotives were the 2-8-8-4 "Yellowstone" classes M-3 and M-4, three of which are preserved at Duluth, Two Harbors and Proctor. These were imposing machines and his reviewer would love to see one of these restored to operation. By the 1960s, DM&IR had replaced the steam locomotives with EMD SD9 and SD18s, although a handful of Alcos were also present for a time. Later SD38 purchases would be supplemented with rebuilt SD9/18s and some SD40-3s rebuilt from SP Tunnel Motors.

The book concludes with a brief look at the CN acquisition, which had yet to make its presence felt at press time. By the following year changes were becoming apparent; for example, the ex-SP diesels are beginning to turn up in CN paint.

This book is well laid out, with easy to read text and maps of predecessors D&IR and DM&N, as well as a good map showing the Iron Range circa 1990. Several topics that don't fit well in the main text are treated as sidebars. The selection of photos is good, although they don't follow the strict chronological time that the text does, so we have color photos of diesels showing up in chapters talking about the D&IR and DM&N years. Perhaps this was done in order to equalize the distribution of color and black and white photos throughout the book. There are some good photos of steam locomotives including those classic 2-8-8-4s, and a nice color shot of a 2-10-4 on page 23. Most of the photo presentation is decent although there are a few unfortunate "gutter spreads" like the SP GEs leading a taconite train bound for Utah. Other photos that would be better presented on one page exist on pages 132-133 and 134-135, the latter gutter eclipsing the tender of 2-10-2 500. Some of the other gutter spreads are less annoying but their removal would have helped this book's presentation. Perhaps the publisher should consider using landscape format for future volumes.

All in all though, John Leopard gives us a good look at DM&IR, bringing us up to date to the recent CN takeover. Given the attraction of the Iron Range to legions of railfans, this book will be a welcome addition to many collectors' libraries.