Wednesday, July 16, 2025
HomeBusinessCN Upgrading Rail Yard at Two Harbors

CN Upgrading Rail Yard at Two Harbors

People have noticed ongoing construc­tion at the taconite staging terminal of CN Railway in Two Harbors. CN is making im­provements to its Two Harbors operation.

According to Kevin Donahue, State and Local Affairs manager for the railroad, “The project at Two Harbors includes grading, drainage, track bed construction and instal­lation of 3800’ of track.”

He added, “Private vehicle access will be maintained with a grade separation struc­ture. This project is planned for completion in the summer of 2024.”

CN Railway, then called Canadian Nation­al, was formed by the Canadian government in 1918. As rail transportation deregulation took place starting in 1980, the government of Canada turned the railroad over to private ownership with a public stock offering in 1995, and its name was officially changed to CN.

CN acquired and took over operations of the Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range Rail­road (DM&IR) and the taconite loading fa­cility in Two Harbors on May 10, 2004.

The DM&IR had a long history in Two Harbors and the Iron Range its port ser­viced. It was formed in 1937 when the Dulu­th, Missabe, and Northern Railroad merged with the Spirit Lake Transfer Railway.

In 1938, the growing business added the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad (D&IR) and Interstate Transfer Railway to its port­folio.

The D&IR was built in 1874 by a compa­ny owned by Charlemagne Tower, a promi­nent lawyer and industrialist in his day. With many interests in the mining industry, he or­dered the D&IR built to bring ore from the Vermillion range to the port in Two Harbors.

The Iron Range city of Tower was named in his honor.

Railroads are essential to Two Harbors’ settlement, development, and history.

Previous article
Next article
Steve Fernlund
Steve Fernlund
Columnist Steve Fernlund is a retired business owner living in Duluth. He published the Cook County News Herald in Grand Marais at the end of the last century. You may email comments or North Shore news story ideas to him at steve.fernlund@gmail.com. And see more at www.stevefernlund.com.
RELATED ARTICLES
- Advertisment - HTML5/CSS3 Responsive Image Slider

Most Popular

HTML5/CSS3 Responsive Image Slider