The Duluth, Missabe & Northern railroad was formed in 1891, and opened a railroad line between Virginia and Brookstone in 1892. Several branches connected to mines in the Virginia area. The DM&N initially used the Great Northern to carry ore from Brookstone into Superior. The DM&N soon built its own line from Alborn into Proctor and down the hill into Duluth.

The DM&N merged with the Duluth & Iron Range Rail Road in 1937 to form the Duluth, Missabe, & Iron Range Railway. The DMIR hauled huge volumes of iron ore in the years leading up to and during World War II. It survived for over 100 years as an independent railroad, which is unusual for a major railroad that has limited track miles and primarily carries a single cargo. The DM&IR was bought by the Canadian National in 2004. The DM&IR locomotives now carry the CN colors, but many of the cars continue to display their DM&IR markings.

The bridge over the Saint Louis River would have been built in 1891 and 1892 as part of the initial railroad line construction. The bridge that currently exists uses the 1892 era piers and abutments, but the steel on the bridge is probably newer than 1892. The girders and deck was probably replaced as railroad equipment became heavier and cargo volumes increased in the 1930s. The photo above shows the 1892 piers to good advantage. Notice that they have been capped with reinforced concrete, adding weight to the speculation that this is at least a second generation bridge.

These two photos are looking north from Zupetz Drive. The bridge is located about 1,400 feet north of Zupetz Drive. The photo above is a view looking northeast, while the photo below is looking a bit to the northwest. The CN runs dual track traffic in this area. Loaded trains head south on the right hand track. Empty trains head north on the left hand track. The right hand track happens to be in much better condition at this location.

The photo above is looking north across the Saint Louis River from under the southeast corner of the bridge. The photo below is a close view of the pier on the north side of the river channel. Notice that the right side of the pier appears to have a step shape and it has a sharp leading edge on the upriver side of the pier. This is an ice deflector used to break up any ice that might jam up against the bridge pier.

The photo above is the south bridge abutment as seen from the southwest corner of the bridge structure. The photo below is a close view of a bridge bearing. A bearing allows the bridge to slide lengthwise on the pier as the bridge expands and contracts with temperature changes.

The photo above is a view of the downstream side of the bridge looking to the northeast from the side of the railroad embankment. The photo below is a view from the southwest corner of the bridge structure.

The photo above is looking north down the length of the bridge deck from the center of the railroad roadbed. The photo below is a similar view from the southwest corner of the bridge. The bridge deck looks very similar to the top of the former DMIR twin track bridge at Elmer on the Albron-Pengilly Railroad ATV Trail located a few miles downstream.

A loaded train crossed the Saint Louis River bridge when I visited this site in the fall of 2009. In the photo above, the center of the train is crossing the river bridge. In the photo below, the locomotives are nearing the grade crossing at Zupetz Drive.

The lead locomotive is an EMD SD38-2. It was delivered to the Duluth, Missabe, & Iron Rain Railway on March 30, 1975. It wore the purple DMIR paint job until it was repainted in the CN paint scheme in December of 2008. The SD38-2 develops 2,000 horsepower and all six axles are powered. The second locomotive is the former Illinois Central number 6261. This 3,000 horsepower unit began life as an EMD SD40-2, but was upgraded with an electronic load controller. The CN has designated this upgrade package as the SD40-3.

The photo above is looking south as the locomotives cross the grade crossing at Zupetz Drive. The photo below is a view of the ore cars as the train passes. DMIR was famous for running mini-quad cars, which were groups of 4 ore cars that were permanently connected by drawbars. In this train, however, each car has a set of couplers.

The photo above is a close view of the first ore car following the locomotives. The photo below is the final car in the train. There is no caboose on this train, so the tail end car has an EOTD, end of train device. An EOTD monitors the air brake pressure and signals the train crew in the event of a brake problem or if the train becomes disconnected. It is interesting that the ore cars all have sideboards except for the first and last cars in the train. Note that this train is not carrying iron ore or taconite. Rather, it is carrying flux stone, which is limestone that is used in the process of making steel. In this case, the flux stone is being carried to the Evtac mine. By incorporating the flux stone into the taconite pellets, there is no need to ship the flux stone to the steel mills on the Great Lakes.