Lake Superior Railroad Museum Steam Train

Duluth & Northeastern 2-8-0 28 was built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1906 for the Duluth, Missabe, and Northern Railway as #332. It remained #332 after a merger changed the road name to the Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range Railway (DM&IR) in 1937. The engine was sold to the Duluth & Northeastern (D&NE) in 1955 and renumbered 28, and it steamed on for another 10 years. Donated to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in 1974 and restored to operation in 2017, it occasionally runs on the Museum’s 28-mile North Shore Scenic Railroad on the former DM&IR line between Duluth and Two Harbors, MN.

On the two-day charter covered in this program, a few cosmetic alterations allowed the locomotive to appear in the livery of both D&NE 28 and DM&IR 332. We start with #28 pulling a mixed train with freight and passenger cars. The charter participants rode in the century-old coaches as we moved between various points along the rails featuring a mix of scenes.

The other day of the charter featured #332 hauling a string of ore empties and a caboose, and a separate train with two DM&IR diesels and the two coaches. The weather can change quickly along the shores of Lake Superior, and this day’s clouds and occasional rain provided a very real feeling of life for the Iron Range railroaders.

Photographer, author, and Trains Magazine correspondent Steve Glischinski organized and led the charter. We’re grateful to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and the volunteer rail crews for making this all possible.

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