Duluth & Iron Range (1881-1901)

  • Duluth & Iron Range formed in 1881 by Charlemagne Tower, Sr. to haul iron ore from his Minnesota Iron Co. in Soudan to the new port of Two Harbors.

  • First ore shipped to Two Harbors on July 31, 1884

  • D&IR falls under control of Illinois Steel in 1887.

  • 21-mile line from Tower to Ely built in 1889 to serve Illinois Steel's Chandler Mine.

  • In 1890, line buiilt from Allen Junction to McKinley, near Biwabik on the Mesabi Range.

  • D&IR annual shipments exceed a million tons in 1892.

  • All five timber ore docks at Two Harbors completed by 1895.

  • Track extended to Virginia, Eveleth, Fayal and Winton during 1893-95. The Two Harbors-Waldo line rebuilt to an easier grade in 1898.

  • D&IR owner Illinois Steel (Federal Steel) is swept into the new United States Steel Corp. (USS) in 1901, put together by J. Pierpont Morgan and managed by Judge Elbert Gary.

Duluth, Missabe & Northern (1891-1901)

  • Merritt brothers discover soft hematite iron ore at Mountain Iron on the Mesabi Range in 1890. DM&N incorporated in 1891.

  • Lines constructed from Mountain Iron, Virginia and Biwabik to Stony Brook Junction (Brookston) on the Duluth & Winnipeg (later Great Northern) in 1892.

  • First loads of ore arrive in Superior, Wisconsin in October 1892.

  • Track laid to Duluth and ore dock built in 1893. Superior Branch from Wolf to Hibbing also built.

  • The Merritt's shaky financial position, due in part to the Duluth expansion, results in John D. Rockefeller controlling the DM&N and Merritt ore properties in 1894.

  • Rockefeller sells the DM&N and ore properties to the new United States Steel Corp. in 1901.

Pre-Merger Period (1901-1938)

DM&N and D&IR under common USS ownership in 1901, but not merged.

  • DM&N's annual tonnage exceeds that of the D&IR.

  • Locomotive backstop in Proctor completed in 1905.

  • Alborn Branch laid in 1906 to access the west end of the Mesabi Range.

  • Duluth coal dock completed in 1909 for receiving shipments of coal for steam locomotives and to be into coke at the new Minnesota Steel plant.

  • Hull-Rust Short Line built in 1910.

  • Minnesota Steel starts making steel in 1915.

  • In 1915, the Spirit Lake Transfer Ry., serving Minnesota Steel, and the Interstate Transfer Ry. are constructed.

  • D&IR's 15-mile Wales Branch built in 1917.

  • DM&N and D&IR placed under federal control in 1918-1920 period.

  • DM&N steel dock #5 completed in 1915, followed by dock #6 in 1917.

  • DM&N leases D&IR in 1930.

  • In 1930, annual tonnage was around 20 million, but two years later, the tonnage falls below 1.5 million tons.

  • In 1937, DM&N and Spirit Lake Transfer Ry. are consolidated to form the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway. In 1938 the D&IR and Interstate Transfer Ry. were absorbed.

Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range (1938 to Present)

The first Baldwin 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone steam locomotives arrive in 1941. A second batch arrives in 1943.

  • DM&IR ships 44,788,199 tons in 1943. Second highest tonnage figure.

  • Wales Branch extended 32 miles in 1947.

  • In 1953, the Missabe reaches its all-time annual ore shipment high of 49,317,625 tons. First diesels, EMD SW-9s, arrive.

  • EMD SD-9s join the locomotive roster in 1956. The Missabe completely dieselizes in 1960.

  • Passenger service on the Missabe division ends in 1957. Duluth to Ely service ceases in 1961.

  • Ore mining ends at the Soudan underground mine in 1962 and at the Ely mines in 1963.

  • The Two Harbors docks close in 1963 and don't re-open until 1966.

  • Taconite Amendment to Minnesota constitution passes in 1963.

  • Eveleth Taconite Co. formed in 1964.

  • Missabe's Lakehead Storage Facility completed in 1964 for winter storage of taconite pellets in Duluth.

  • USS Minntac starts operations at Mountain Iron in 1967.

  • Self-unloading 1,000 foot ore boats go into service in 1972.

  • Inland Steel opens its Minorca taconite pellet plant near Virginia in 1977.

  • During the 1978-1986 period, US Steel closes the Duluth Works, South Works in Chicago, Ohio Works in Youngstown, the Cuyahoga Works in Cleveland; at Pittsburgh: Homestead Works, Carrie Furnaces, Duquesne Works and National Tube; the hot side of the Fairless Works near Trenton, New Jersey and sells off the Johnstown Works in Pennsylvania and Geneva Works in Utah.

  • US Steel buys Marathon Oil in 1982 and changes its name to USX in 1986.

  • In 1988, USX spins off DM&IR; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (EJ&E), Union RR, the Pittsburgh & Conneaut Dock Company, Bessemer & Lake Erie (B&LE), Birmingham Southern, the Great Lakes Fleet and Warrior & Gulf Navigation into subsidiary Transtar, then sells majority control to the Blackstone Group and USX.

  • In 1998, Dutch steelmaker Ispat International buys Inland Steel, including Minorca plant.

  • In 2001, USX takes back the Union Railroad, EJ&E, Birmingham Southern and Warrior & Gulf

  • Navigation from the Blackstone Group.

  • DM&IR, Great Lakes Fleet, B&LE and the Pittsburgh and Conneaut Dock Company were spun off from Transtar into the new company Great Lakes Transportation (owned by Blackstone Holdings). For the first time in over 100 years DM&IR is no longer associated with US Steel.

  • USX acquires National Steel, including National Steel Pellet Co., in 2003.

  • EVTAC (Eveleth Taconite) shuts down in May 2003. DM&IR loses half of its traffic and second largest source of revenue.

  • In late 2003, Blackstone Holdings agrees to sell Great Lakes Transportation to the Canadian National. Includes the Missabe, Great Lakes Fleet, Bessemer & Lake Erie and C&P Dock.

  • EVTAC becomes United Taconite (owned by Cleveland-Cliffs and a Chinese steel company). Raw ore moves again moves from the Thunderbird Mine to the processor in Forbes in December 2003.

  • In early 2004, Cleveland-Cliffs explores the possibilty of routing pellets from United Taconite and Hibbing Taconite to its former LTV Steel Mining dock at Taconite Harbor.