Over The Knife River
For last week's Station Saturday I shared a photo of the wonderfully restored Knife River passenger and freight depots. So for today continuing the Missabe Monday theme here is a complementary shot featuring the little village's namesake.
The North Shore Scenic Railroad's First Class Two Harbors Fall Colors Tour is on its return run to Duluth as they pass over the Knife River bridge at its outlet into Lake Superior at about MP 19.7 on the Lake Division just west of the depot. Leading the way very much on home rails is DMIR 193 an EMD SD18 blt. Apr. 1960 as the last of nineteen of the model purchased by the road. Chop nosed in 1992 the the locomotive was donated to the museum in 1998 and then repainted in 2002 at the Missabe's Proctor shops.
The North Shore Scenic Railroad operates on 26 miles of government owned track which was originally the Duluth and Iron Range Railway's mainline built as an extension from Two Harbors (then known as Agate Bay). Opened in 1886 only two years after Charlemagne Tower's road hauled its first trainload of ore down from the Soudan Mine, this extension provided the D&IR with a physical connection to the rest of the national rail network. Known as the Lake Division under the auspices of the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range it had revenue passenger service until 1961 between Duluth and Ely. As it was not a route for ore trains the line's utility diminished until it was shuttered in 1982 and then petitioned for abandonment a few years later. St. Louis and Lake County banded together to form a regional railroad authority and then purchased the line from the DMIR in 1988. Tourist trains began running in 1990 and for the first half dozen years it was attempted to operate as a for profit entity. Today the railroad is a volunteer run non profit arm of the museum running over 700 trains during the regular May to October season and then more around the holidays!
Unincorporated Knife River
Lake County, Minnesota
Friday October 6, 2023
Over The Knife River
For last week's Station Saturday I shared a photo of the wonderfully restored Knife River passenger and freight depots. So for today continuing the Missabe Monday theme here is a complementary shot featuring the little village's namesake.
The North Shore Scenic Railroad's First Class Two Harbors Fall Colors Tour is on its return run to Duluth as they pass over the Knife River bridge at its outlet into Lake Superior at about MP 19.7 on the Lake Division just west of the depot. Leading the way very much on home rails is DMIR 193 an EMD SD18 blt. Apr. 1960 as the last of nineteen of the model purchased by the road. Chop nosed in 1992 the the locomotive was donated to the museum in 1998 and then repainted in 2002 at the Missabe's Proctor shops.
The North Shore Scenic Railroad operates on 26 miles of government owned track which was originally the Duluth and Iron Range Railway's mainline built as an extension from Two Harbors (then known as Agate Bay). Opened in 1886 only two years after Charlemagne Tower's road hauled its first trainload of ore down from the Soudan Mine, this extension provided the D&IR with a physical connection to the rest of the national rail network. Known as the Lake Division under the auspices of the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range it had revenue passenger service until 1961 between Duluth and Ely. As it was not a route for ore trains the line's utility diminished until it was shuttered in 1982 and then petitioned for abandonment a few years later. St. Louis and Lake County banded together to form a regional railroad authority and then purchased the line from the DMIR in 1988. Tourist trains began running in 1990 and for the first half dozen years it was attempted to operate as a for profit entity. Today the railroad is a volunteer run non profit arm of the museum running over 700 trains during the regular May to October season and then more around the holidays!
Unincorporated Knife River
Lake County, Minnesota
Friday October 6, 2023