Steam & Excursion > Two Tickets To Two Harbors...

Took me a few days to regroup and edit photos, but part of our annual trip to Minnesota (to visit Mrs. NZ's relatives) this year included a side trip to Duluth to experience the Soo 2719 while I still could. Friday, September 6th would be the day for us to enjoy a ride from Duluth to Two Harbors and return behind steam.

Thanks to the gracious invite of an acquaintance in the ranks of LSRM, I was able to stop down at the enginehouse before train time and check out prepping the engine. Once there I found out our Fireman would be none other than TO's own LarryDoyle...always nice to have a face to put with the "handle"!

With the Railfan Weekend activites scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, 2719 had already taken on her "split personality", with her Engineer's side and headlight glass temporarily lettered as "DM&IR 403", while the Fireman's side remained in Soo livery.

1. The front of the "Faux-oh-three" is posed between a (non-operational) semaphore and a Griswold crossing signal;

2. The fireman's side of the cab proudly displays her proper identity;

3. LarryDoyle takes a moment between scoops to pose in the gangway.

More to come...

NZ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/13 17:33 by NebraskaZephyr.

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The 2719 was parked alongside the enginehouse, and one of LSRM's hi-rail trucks was parked alongside the "403" so, unfortunately, a broadside of the loco would have to wait. My current physical limitations also prevented me from climbing the ladder for any cab shots, so after getting a little "recon" from the crew about photo angles from the train, we returned to the depot to pick up our tickets and a quick look around the Museum. (Along the way I took some rosters of the passenger equipment lined up along the access road that I won't bore you with).

4. The original Milwaukee boxcab 10200 and DM&IR Yellowstone 227 stand "side-by-each" on Depot Tracks 4 and 5. That's a LOT of black paint to compensate exposure for!

5. The much-more-colorful WILLIAM CROOKS and MINNETONKA stand together over on Tracks 6 and 7;

6. DSS&A 101 also provides a splash of color under the trainshed.

Still more to come...

NZ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/13 17:51 by NebraskaZephyr.

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7. Outside on the runaround stub north of the depot (that runs directly into the parking lot) we find NSSR's RDC-1. This was originally one of only three RDCs (two RDC-1s and a RDC-2) purchased by the Chicago & North Western. The other C&NW RDC-1 also still exists, albeit currently non-operational, at Illinois Railway Museum. NSSR's car exhibits several modifications from as-built, including those high-mount headlight casings (hey, I'm a bit of an RDC geek!);

8. We of the unwashed masses are lined up as the train arrives for boarding. Yeah, it's a crap shot, best I could do sitting on a bench trying to rest my bum foot.

9. Crossing the Knife River. The chasers got a MUCH more dramtic shot of us ON the bridge than I got FROM the bridge!

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10. After receiving authority from the CN RTC in Homewood, IL, we climb the hill up to Two Harbors Jct. where we will back into the Two Harbors depot. NSSR must use a short portion of CN track near the north end of Two Harbors yard to access the ex-DM&IR depot. This was easily the hardest the old girl worked since leaving Duluth!

11. Almost there...the train takes headroom on the bridge over U.S. 61 to clear the depot switch.

12. Some of the abandoned former Duluth & Iron Range facilites at Two Harbors. The former roundhouse is just out of view to the left.

STILL more coming...hope you're not bored yet.

NZ

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Thanks for sharing the photos. A point of interest in the Knife River photo. The concrete ruins to the right of the river mouth are all that remains of the Duluth and Northern Minnesota Railway dock. For those that care to know, the D&NM Ry a Alger Smith logging operation, was headquartered out of Knife River MN until 1921 and the dock was where logs were transferred from railcars to boats for delivery down to the lower lakes (The D&NM interchanged with the Duluth and Iron Range Ry at Knife River. The D&IR transported logs to Duluth for local lumber mill use). D&NM 14 a 2-8-2 that use to haul logs for the road is on display at the LSRM.

Kent


NebraskaZephyr Wrote:
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> 7. Outside on the runaround stub north of the
> depot (that runs directly into the parking lot) we
> find NSSR's RDC-1. This was originally one of only
> three RDCs (two RDC-1s and a RDC-2) purchased by
> the Chicago & North Western. The other C&NW RDC-1
> also still exists, albeit currently

>
> 9. Crossing the Knife River. The chasers got a
> MUCH more dramtic shot of us ON the bridge than I
> got FROM the bridge!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/13 18:29 by SooLine700.

These are pretty darn wonderful photos. The museum and the railroad both do a great job in presenting and operating a wide variety of equipment, much of it from the general area plus some exotic stuff from elsewhere.

Sorry about your bum foot.

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com

13. By the time I disembarked, 2719 was already cut away and headed off to wye via the CN yard. NSSR typically keeps a diesel at Two Harbors to facilitate the runaround move and to assist the train in backing up the nearly 4% grade from the depot to the CN main. Friday the DM&IR 316 (owned by the Missabe Road Historical Society) did the honors;

14. D&IR #3, a 2-6-0 that was one of the first locomotives the D&IR owned, is on display under a pavilion next to the depot. Across the street under another pavilion roof is Yellowstone 229 for your viewing pleasure;

15. One of many view I took of Two Harbors Depot.

Still more coming, thanks for your patience!

NZ

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Before we continue, thanks to Kent for pointing out the historical significance of Knife River and its connection to D&NM 14. If you visit LSRM, pick up a copy of their official guidebook (yes, I got one, well worth the $19.95) for a nice capsule history of Knife River and the D&NM.

16 and 17. After a tasty lunch in one of Two Harbor's finer establishments, we find the 2719 turned and ready to head south. DM&IR 316 waits in the wings to help push her up the hill.

18. LarryDoyle was nice enough to take my camera over the tracks and into the rough ground (where I dared not tread) to get some other angles for me. This past weekend Two Harbors hosted a huge car show and some of the early arrivals were parked by the depot. Which one would YOU rather ride back to Duluth? That coupe in nice, but I'll take the one on the left...

And the hits just keep on coming....

NZ

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19. and 20.: Two more views of the 2719's alter ego, DM&IR "Faux-Oh-Three", courtesy of LarryDoyle.

21. Kathy (a.k.a. Mrs. NZ) poses for a shot. She's just had lunch, she's not normally that thrilled about a train ride :-)

NZ

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22. Interior of our conveyance, DM&IR coach 33.

23. and 24.: After waiting for a departing northbound empty to "roll up" his Track Authority and getting an assist from the 316, we are finally on our way south through Two Harbors Jct.

ONE more post and I'm done with this travelogue, I promise...

NZ.

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Okay, on the home stretch here:

25: We meet the afternoon Lester River train with the "other" DM&IR SD18, 193, at Lakeside siding.

26: We meet a Laker (NOT the Soo Line version) just before Canal Park.

I went back Saturday morning before leaving town to get a couple of wayside shots, which I'll put up on a different thread.

Remember: YOU ONLY HAVE ONE MORE WEEKEND TO SEE THIS CLASSY ENGINE RUN FOR WHAT MIGHT BE THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE!!!!

As the Animals once sang, "Save up all your bread, and fly Trans World Airways (good luck with that!)...it WILL be worth it!"

Thanks for hanging in with me all the way to the end,

NZ

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Great travelogue! I like the shots of the 2719 er um 403 with the CTC signal as it curves around off the southbound CN main to the Duluth Line (NSSR). Though safe for the time being those searchlight signals are due for replacement in the future.

Kent

Wonderful shots!

Posted from Android

Al Seever
Phoenix, AZ