That is a lot of Horsepower at Work

The picture on the front of this post card is another set of Fairbanks-Morse

4,800 horsepower “Train Master” locomotives. They are hauling iron ore from the open-pit mines near Ely-Biwabik to the loading docks at Two Harbors, Minnesota. This website https://www.american-rails.com/nylb.html offers us a fascinating history of how the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railroad came to be. Here is a very short excerpt from his article. I recommend that you go there and read it. Because of its unique nature the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range carries one of the most interesting histories of any railroad. The company's existence was tied directly, and almost exclusively, to iron ore. In many ways, it differed entirely from its counterparts. Its heritage, ironically, begins with gold. A gold rush hit Minnesota's Lake Vermilion region in 1865 when prospectors claimed they had stumbled upon the precious metal. This hope turned out to be unfounded, and the flurry of activity had ended by 1868. However, a few individuals stuck around after noticing the red soil appeared to contain rich sources of iron. The most notable was George Stuntz who set into motion efforts that later became the Duluth & Iron Range, DM&IR's earliest component. After studying samples, the ore was proven to be roughly 65% pure iron, an extremely exciting prospect. The Duluth & Iron Mountain Railroad (D&IM) was incorporated on January 29, 1881 by Charlemagne Tower of Philadelphia for the purpose of hauling the iron ore to market. After a route was surveyed for the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad, construction commenced northward from Agate Bay with a short segment initially opened at that location on August 28, 1883. After nearly a year of construction the entire 68-mile line was completed on July 31, 1884, serving two early docks at Two Harbors. A group of industrialists, which included oil mogul John D. Rockefeller, carried a nearly limitless stream of capital. Threatening to build a competing line of their own, Tower capitulated and sold his stakes in April of 1887 for a total of $6.4 million. The D&IR reached the western Mesabi Range in 1892 when it opened an 18-mile extension to McKinley via Wyman. This put it direct competition with a nearby road with which it would later merge, the Duluth, Missabe & Northern. On February 11, 1891 the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway was formed and by October of 1892 it was ready for service. The two railroads remained separate corporate entities until a series of transactions in the late 1930s; first, the DM&N and Spirit Lake Transfer Railway (formed in 1907, this DM&N subsidiary eventually constructed 11 miles in the West Duluth area to serve a steel mill owned by the Minnesota Steel Company) were merged on July 1, 1937 to form the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway.

This post card is another of the post cards in my collection from Audio Visual Designs. The photo is by Lewis A. Harlow.

Didn't I Just See You Two Weeks Ago?

The locomotive pictured on the front of this post card is a Baldwin DT6-6-2000. It is seen here with a freight train on May 20, 1971 at Minneapolis.

Two weeks ago, I posted about its sister locomotive (Number 21) which worked for the same railroad, the Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern Railway. These two locomotives are twin-engined diesel-electric transfer switchers, built by Baldwin Locomotive Works between 1946 and 1950. 45 locomotives were built using 6-cylinder turbocharged 606SC prime movers during 1948–1950. Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway #21 is the only DT-6-6-2000 preserved. It is owned by the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois where it remains in operable condition. Adam Burns of American Rails https://www.american-rails.com/20001.html writes this about the Baldwin DT6-6-2000: The DT-6-6-2000 was one of the most interesting models released by a major manufacturer. This design was a specialized type of locomotive intended for use in heavy drag service over short distances, such as on terminal railroads or moving cuts of cars between local yards. Believing that there was a market for such, Baldwin released the DT-6-6-2000 directly after World War II, one of first models to employ the company's own prime mover. As a switcher, it was massive and, longer than virtually every road switcher or cab unit on the market at that time. As John Kirkland explains in "The Diesel Builders: Volume Three," the locomotive featured dual control stands for maximum flexibility, thus allowing operation in either direction without turning the locomotive. Ironically, for a design geared towards switching, the DT-6-6-2000 retained a high-hood on both ends, thus restricting a crew's 360-degree view from either the ground (seeing the engineer) or the cab (seeing the crew). Unfortunately, the design had mechanical issues and railroads were never really interested in such a specialized locomotive resulting in fewer than 50 constructed when production had ended.

This post card is another of the post cards in my collection from Mary Jayne’s Railroad Specialties. I have written about her many times because I have 243 of her post cards in my collection. The photo was taken by A. Robert Johnson.

Beast of Burden

The locomotive pictured on the front of this post card is a Baldwin DT-6-6-2000. I will be giving more details in two weeks when I post about its sister locomotive, Number 23. This post is about the railroad for which these two locomotives operated. This website provides information about the railway for which this locomotive worked: https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/minneapolis-northfield-and-southern-railway The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway (MN&S) was a Minnesota short-line railroad that operated between the cities of Crystal and Northfield from 1918 until 1982. It was a profitable bridge line, routing traffic past the crowded freight yards of the Twin Cities onto connecting railroads at Northfield, connecting with the Rock Island, the Chicago Great Western, and the Milwaukee Road. The financially unsuccessful predecessor of the MN&S was the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company. The road was to be electrified and use a system of overhead catenary wires to provide power to locomotives. Freight traffic generally utilized steam locomotives instead. Passenger service was offered using “doodlebugs,” unique gas-electric hybrid locomotives that were ideal for providing limited passenger and even mixed-freight service over smaller railroads. In 1916, and the short line entered receivership. The MN&S grew out of this defunct line under Henry E. Pence in 1918. The new railroad used trackage rights over the Chicago Great Western to extend service to Randolph and Mankato. Rights also extended to the Luce Line railroad, an agricultural sister line that extended to the rich croplands of western Minnesota. The MN&S also built an extension from its junction with the Luce Line west of Minneapolis northward to the rails of the Soo Line in Crystal. The MN&S was thus able to access Shoreham Yard, the Soo Line’s major local terminal in north Minneapolis. This also allowed the line an interchange with the nearby terminal of the Northern Pacific, the Northtown yard. The new line became a well-positioned road with access to the major carriers of the Twin Cities. The MN&S had a competitive advantage as a bridge line and offered many connections to virtually all larger freight carriers in the Twin Cities. The railroad built a servicing facility for motive power to the west of Glenwood Park in Golden Valley, connecting it to the main line by a small spur. The line used 2-10-0 Decapod-type locomotives, having purchased seven in the 1930s and several more in the following decade. The doodlebugs maintained a limited passenger service over the route, and they came from several manufacturers, such as General Electric and the Wason Company. The MN&S eventually abandoned passenger service as less than profitable. The last run—a trip to Northfield—took place on April 30, 1942. The late 1940s saw the end of the steam era on the MN&S and the switch to diesel. The line received its first center-cab road switching locomotive from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1948. The railroad took subsequent delivery of the unique diesel units in 1949 and 1953, as well as other units from Baldwin and the Fairbanks-Morse Company. The company also acquired motive power from the Electromotive division of General Motors. In June 1982, the Soo Line purchased the MN&S, and the line ran its last freight train. Most of the system continued to exist, operated in sections by several other railroads. Here is the back of the post card:

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.

GEOGRAPHY Lessons today!

The title of this post card, in typical V. O. Hammon sytle of small red block lettering, is: LOADED ORE TRAINS LEAVING MAHONING MINE, HIBBING, MINN (LARGEST OPEN PIT MINE IN THE WORLD).

Today the Hull-Rust-Mahoning Mine in Hibbing, Minnesota, United States, is one of the largest open pit iron mines in the world, with a 1.5 by 3.5 mile footprint and depths up to 600 feet. The mine, located in the Mesabi Range, supplied as much as one-fourth of all the iron ore mined in the United States during its peak production during World War I and World War II.
This area of the Mesabi Range was explored in 1893–1894, shortly after the Mountain Iron mine was established in 1892. It began as an underground mine, but open pit mining soon proved to be a better choice because of the shallow nature of the ore deposits. The many smaller open pit mines developed in the area soon merged into one large mine. The growth of the mine even resulted in the town of Hibbing being relocated to accommodate expansion. The move started in 1919 and took two years to complete at a cost of $16,000,000. 185 houses and 20 businesses were moved, and some of the larger buildings had to be cut in half for the move. Only a few uninhabited remnants of the original townsite are left near an observational lookout at the edge of the mine.

Hibbing was founded in 1893 by the town's namesake, Frank Hibbing.[8] Hibbing was born in Hannover, Germany on December 1, 1856 and was christened Frans Dietrich von Ahlen. His mother died when he was still in infancy and it was her name, Hibbing, which he assumed when he set out to seek his fortune in the New World. He first settled in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin where he worked on a farm and in a shingle mill. After deciding he was not familiar enough with the English language to make a legal career possible, he turned to timber cruising.
In 1887, Mr. Hibbing settled in Duluth where he established a real estate business and began explorations on the Vermilion Range. In 1892, he headed a party of thirty men at Mountain Iron and cut a road through the wilderness to Section 22, 58-20. An expert iron ore prospector, he soon discovered the surface indication which led him to believe in the existence of extensive ore deposits.

In July 1893, the townsite of Hibbing was laid out and named in honor of him. Feeling personally responsible as Hibbing's creator, he took the deepest pride in its development and, by his generous aid, made its progress possible. He used his personal means to provide a water plant, electric light plant, the first roads, hotel, sawmill, and bank building. For the last ten years of his life, Mr. Hibbing made his home in Duluth where many of his business interests were centered. He retained close contact with the community which bore his name, until he died of appendicitis on July 30, 1897 at age forty.

The post card is being sent from Duluth, Minnesota to a friend who lives in Lynndyl, Utah. The writer tells his friend that "I just lit here and I don't know how long I will stay."
Lynndyl Utah is a town of about 3 and a half square miles in area located in northeast Millard County. This puts in close to, but not very near to the geographical center of the state. Lynndyl got its beginning, like many towns, as a railroad town in1907. Farming in the area began around the year 1912. Its greatest population was achieved in 1930 with 495 people living in Lynndyl; the lowest population was in 1980 at 90 people. Today there are just over 100 people there.
At the turn of the 21st Century, according to the 2000 census, there were 134 people, 45 households, and 39 families residing in the town. There were 55 housing units there and the racial makeup was 89.55% White, 2.24% Native American, 5.97% from other races, and 2.24% from a mixed race household. Hispanic households were13.43% of the population.
The age spread was that there were 32.8% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years old.
The median income for a household in the town was $35,625. Males had a median income of $31,250 versus $21,250 for females. 11.1% of families and 7.5% of the population were living below the poverty line, including 13.0% of people under the age of eighteen.

The post card was printed and published by V.O. Hammon Publishing Company out of Chicago. A major publisher of halftone lithographic view-cards of the Great Lakes region. They also published novelty cards. Most of their cards tend to have a distinct look as they were printed in crisp RGB colors with small red block lettering. The V.O. Hammon Publishing Company, publisher of pictorial postcards, is listed in the Minneapolis, Minnesota city directory from 1904 until 1923.