You Can Still See It Today

The locomotive on display on the front of this post card is still in existence today. This was the first locomotive used to haul iron ore from the Iron Range to the ore docks at Two Harbors, Minnesota.

The Duluth & Iron Range Railroad No. 3 is a 2-6-0 "Mogul" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin locomotive works in 1883 for the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad. It was intended for a railroad in Brazil at a cost of $12,000, but was refused on technical grounds and needing a locomotive to help lay rails from Two Harbors, MN., the D&IR purchased it for $9,750. The locomotive was shipped to Two Harbors by barge and was the only wood burning locomotive ever operated on the road. It was a good choice, however, because it could take fuel from the plentiful adjacent forests, and water from the many local rivers and streams as it hauled rails, supplies and equipment from Agate Bay up to the rail head. The locomotive was assigned to the Minnesota Iron Company in 1874, where it hauled iron ore from its Soudan mine to Two Harbors, and the company greatly contributed to the growth of the town. It was bought by Illinois Steel in 1887 which, in 1901, became part of United States Steel Corporation. The D&IR then merged into the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range in 1938. As heavier locomotives arrived on the D&IR, "3 Spot" was beginning to seem unsuited for the longer trains. Surplus to requirements, it was sold to the Duluth & Northern Minnesota, another ore carrier operating out of the Missabe Range to docks at Superior, WI, and Duluth, MN, in 1899 and was renumbered #2. Today the locomotive is on static display at the Two Harbors Depot Museum in Two Harbors, MN.

The psot card was printed by W. A. Fisher Company of Virginia, Minnesota. Founded in 1922 in Virginia, MN, the W.A. Fisher Company broke into the business world as a printer and lithographer – one of the first north of the Twin Cities. Although the company has since expanded to include advertising, marketing and interactive divisions, full service printing and binding remains as one of our core capabilities. Over our many years in business, W.A. Fisher Printing has built a reputation for quality and outstanding customer service.

Forerunner of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad

The locomotive on the front of this post card is part of Northern Pacific Railway's First North Coast Limited, shortly after the train was put into service in April of 1900.

The North Coast Limited was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train after the merger on March 2, 1970 with Great Northern Railway and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The next year, it ceased operations after the trains which left their originating stations on April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak began service (May 1, 1971), arrived at their destinations. Our good friends at Wikipedia provide this short history of the Northern Pacific Railway as well as the details above about the North Coast Limited. The Northern Pacific Railway (reporting mark NP) was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. Congress chartered the Northern Pacific Railway Company on July 2, 1864, with the goals of connecting the Great Lakes with Puget Sound on the Pacific, opening vast new lands for farming, ranching, lumbering and mining, and linking Washington and Oregon to the rest of the country. It was given nearly forty million acres (62,000 sq mi; 160,000 km2) of land grants, which it used to raise money in Europe for construction. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former President Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in western Montana on September 8, 1883. The Northern Pacific was headquartered in Minnesota, first in Brainerd, then in Saint Paul. It had a tumultuous financial history; the NP merged with other lines in 1970 to form the Burlington Northern Railroad, which in turn merged with the Santa Fe to become the BNSF Railway in 1996.

I have posted other post cards by the publisher of this one: Bob Fremming of Dallas, Wisconsin. I cannot find much information about him on line, but he was a prolific publisher. There are samples of his cards on line at Etsy, Ebay, and other auction sites.

Everyone Wants to Get into the Act

The first 4-8-4 engine was built in 1927. There were 1,126 engines owned by 36 railroads in North America. The locomotive on the front of this post card is 4-8-4 “Northern”

type engine. It had 70 inch drivers and weighed 494,000 pounds. This locomotive is part of a publicity shot by the Norfolk & Western Railway in the 1940s at its Roanoke shops in Virginia; as you can see, everyone wanted to get into the act. The following information was taken from this website: https://www.nwhs.org/about_nw.php The Norfolk & Western Railway was a unique operation of modest proportions that achieved recognition beyond contemporary railroads of similar size. In actuality, Norfolk & Western had two differing styles. Before 1964, it was a coal hauler known for its excellent financial performance, and which operated arguably the finest fleet of steam motive power at the head of long coal trains. The routine tonnage carried on these trains would be considered records elsewhere. Changes began first with dieselization and then merger with Virginian Railway in the late 1950's. In 1964 Norfolk & Western leased, merged with, or purchased several other railroads to expand its operation becoming a major midwestern carrier. As such it operated routes from Norfolk VA and Buffalo NY to Chicago IL and St. Louis and Kansas City MO. On June 1, 1982 the Norfolk & Western, along with the Southern Railway, became subsidiaries of Norfolk Southern Corporation, a newly formed holding company. Finally on September 1, 1998 Norfolk & Western's corporate existence ended as it was merged into Norfolk Southern Corporation.

The post card was published by the Mayer Post Card Company. Its address was 2234 Maiden Lane, S. W., Roanoke, Virginia. There is a zip code as part of the address (24015) so this post card was published after 1963, even though the picture is from the 1940s. I was searching for this company on the internet. Here is what I found at https://whereorg.com/mayer-post-card-co-17506845 According to our records, this business is located at 3633 Ghent Dr. in Chesterfield (in Chesterfield County), Virginia 23832, the location GPS coordinates are: 37.459198 (latitude), -77.519507 (longitude). Mayer Post Card Co is categorized under Sales and Receipt Books (SIC code 5112). Known organization owner is Christopher Mayer. Current estimates show that the unit has a sales volume of $342,000 and staff of approximately 1 worker. You can contact the company by phone at (804) 276-7373.

Another Nickel Plate Locomotive

The locomotive pictured on the front of this post card was built by Lima in 1944 – very close to the end of the steam era of railroads. Here it is viewed

near Sheldon, Illinois on May 7, 1980 with a freight train of the Toledo, Peoria & Western. It picked up the consist in Effner, Indiana and it is bound for East Peoria, Illinois. But, this is no regular revenue run. This locomotive has been restored. It was on static display and is now operable. Read on…the information below was taken from this website: https://fortwaynerailroad.org/about/ The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, Inc. (FWRHS) is an award-winning, 501(c)3 non-profit corporation founded in 1972. The organization has over 800 members, 100 volunteers, nine board of directors and a number of project managers. In 1974, the Society was successful in removing historic Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive no. 765 from display in Lawton Part in Fort Wayne, Indiana. That is the locomotive whose photo appears on the front of this post card. In 1979, the FWRHS became the first all volunteer, non-profit organization to successfully restore and operate a steam locomotive, writing a significant chapter in the early days of the country’s rail preservation movement. Since 1980, the Society has hosted and administered passenger train excursions, private charters, public exhibitions and education outreach activities with the 765 and a variety of other vintage railroad equipment throughout the Midwest. The locomotive and its train continue to serve as an uncommon cultural attraction with worldwide appeal, offering tourists, passengers and supporters from all 50 states and numerous countries the opportunity to relive a bygone era of innovation in American history. The Society holds regular work sessions and open houses at its restoration facility in New Haven, Indiana during the year and is poised to become a major player in downtown Fort Wayne as part of the Headwaters Junction attraction – all within a mile of the park where the 765 was initially preserved for display.

The post card was published by Mary Jayne’s Railroad Specialties, Inc. I have written about Mary Jayne in the past. I never get tired of telling people what a great correspondence I had with her when I was trying to see if she printed a catalogue of the train post cards that she published. She did; and she sent it to me for free! She only asked that I give some money to charity or to my church. The picture on the front was taken by Russ Porter. My research tells me that he was born on November 5, 1918 and died on October 24, 2001. He was a prolific railroad photographer.