Returning Thru Leif Erikson Park
As I've written before, another main goal of my October Minnesota reprisal sojourn was to fill in some gaps from the trip back in the spring. I wanted to visit the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, ride the affiliated North Shore Scenic Railroad, and chase the Two Harbors excursion that traverses the full length of their line. I accomplished all three on Friday including a chase of the excursion and then a fabulously fun trip on the annual Beer Train later that evening.
While it's hard to choose what is the coolest locomotive on their roster, almost all of which run, I did score the only one that could be considered on 'home rails.' One of the main goals of the chase was a shot in Duluth proper from one of several pedestrian bridges along the Lakewalk where I could capture the train beside the blue waters of Kitchigami. My first choice was behind the old Fitgers Brewing in order to incorporate some of the historic structures into the photo, but alas this time of year it is fully shadowed by the afternoon. So I chose this as my second choice, the famous Ivy Wall beneath Leif Erikson Park and the beautiful Duluth Rose Garden at about MP 1.6.
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. Coupled behind her is another piece of home road equipment, DMIR C-205 built by International Car in 1952 as a cupola caboose then converted in 1975 to a bay window. Sold in 2000 to Northshore Mining it was never used there and was purchased two years later by the museum with funds raised by the Missabe Railroad Historical Society.
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!
Duluth, Minnesota
Friday October 6, 2023
Returning Thru Leif Erikson Park
As I've written before, another main goal of my October Minnesota reprisal sojourn was to fill in some gaps from the trip back in the spring. I wanted to visit the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, ride the affiliated North Shore Scenic Railroad, and chase the Two Harbors excursion that traverses the full length of their line. I accomplished all three on Friday including a chase of the excursion and then a fabulously fun trip on the annual Beer Train later that evening.
While it's hard to choose what is the coolest locomotive on their roster, almost all of which run, I did score the only one that could be considered on 'home rails.' One of the main goals of the chase was a shot in Duluth proper from one of several pedestrian bridges along the Lakewalk where I could capture the train beside the blue waters of Kitchigami. My first choice was behind the old Fitgers Brewing in order to incorporate some of the historic structures into the photo, but alas this time of year it is fully shadowed by the afternoon. So I chose this as my second choice, the famous Ivy Wall beneath Leif Erikson Park and the beautiful Duluth Rose Garden at about MP 1.6.
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. Coupled behind her is another piece of home road equipment, DMIR C-205 built by International Car in 1952 as a cupola caboose then converted in 1975 to a bay window. Sold in 2000 to Northshore Mining it was never used there and was purchased two years later by the museum with funds raised by the Missabe Railroad Historical Society.
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!
Duluth, Minnesota
Friday October 6, 2023