Nostalgia & History > DM&IR Fan Trip ??

I came a cross these two slides and don't know what to make of them. They are of DM&IR 514 taken by Roger Puta in September 1962 certainly looks like some sort of event.

Thanks for any insight,
Marty Bernard

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First photo appears to have been taken in Duluth, MN and the second appears to be Hibbing, MN.

On September 2, 1962, DM & IR 514 was used on an Illini Railroad Club excursion from Duluth to Hibbing.

On September 29, 1962, the 514 was operated from Proctor to Mountain Iron and Virginia (all in Minnesota) for the St. Louis County Historical Society. This would be last major steam excursion on the DM & IR until the excursion with the Milwaukee Road 261 locomotive in September 2000.

Thanks RuleG. I'm wondering why all I found was two shots. Maybe I'll find more. Marty

RuleG Wrote:
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> First photo appears to have been taken in Duluth,
> MN and the second appears to be Hibbing, MN.
>
> On September 2, 1962, DM & IR 514 was used on an
> Illini Railroad Club excursion from Duluth to
> Hibbing.
>
> On September 29, 1962, the 514 was operated from
> Proctor to Mountain Iron and Virginia (all in
> Minnesota) for the St. Louis County Historical
> Society. This would be last major steam excursion
> on the DM & IR until the excursion with the
> Milwaukee Road 261 locomotive in September 2000.


It sounds like you are well-versed in the DM&IR - do you know exactly where Virmount Junction is/was located? I was trying to find out for a research project. The name suggests it's between Virginia and Mountain Iron but I don't know exactly where it's at.

Brad Miller of Mobile Fidelity was on hand for this excursion. He made a number of tender top recordings of #514, and two sequences were released on vinyl: one each on Twilight Of Steam, Volumes 2 and 4.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

aaronhanson Wrote:
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>
>
> It sounds like you are well-versed in the DM&IR -
> do you know exactly where Virmount Junction is/was
> located? I was trying to find out for a research
> project. The name suggests it's between Virginia
> and Mountain Iron but I don't know exactly where
> it's at.

The DM & IR is one of my favorite railroads, but I there probably are TO members more knowledgeable about the DM & IR than me.

The information about the 514 excursion is from David Shauer's book "Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway in Color" and a photo on Pinterest.

I was unable to find Virmount Junction on the maps in David Shauer's book or Frank King's "Missabe Road" book.