History of the Superior Northern Railroad
A detailed, all encompassing history of the Superior Northern Railroad is all but impossible due to the rather short history of the railroad and the fact that all records of its operations and all equipment lists were lost in a disastrous fire that destroyed the home office of the Superior Northern Railroad. Some records, mostly lists of assets, of the Superior Northern must exist in the old records of the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad (DSS&A). However the DSS&A did not fully complete its absorption of the Superior Northern before it in turn was purchased by the SOO Line. These records have not come to light and apparently are lost in the DSS&A files.
During the late forties and into the fifties a group of financial investors from Chicago and Michigan began to purchase abandoned rights-of-way and obtain trackage rights to many of the small towns and smaller mines in the iron mining ranges of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan specifically in and around the Marquette and Gogebic Ranges. The trackage rights were obtained from both the DSS&A and the SOO Line and possibly some from the Lake Superior and Ishpeming railroads.
In May of 1951 the Superior Northern Railroad was officially formed. The expressed intention of the railroad was to handle the small amounts of iron ore produced by many of the smaller iron mines, assemble unit trains of ore and interchange with the larger railroads to have the ore moved to shipping docks for sale to the Asian markets. In addition to iron ore cargos the company also planned to handle smaller freight movements that the larger railroads were contracting to land-based freight haulers. Plus the forest industry generated substantial amounts of freight movement that could also be moved by rail. In consideration of the fact that this group of financiers and investors also controlled a lake shipping firm, Riverbend Transportation, there is a possible unexpressed intention of obtaining exclusive cargos for Riverbend boats.
The initial years of operation were very promising for the Superior Northern, new track was being laid, older mine leads were being refurbished, new equipment, mainly ore cars and locomotives were being delivered. The Superior Northern appeared to be headed for economic viability and a position in the economy of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
However by the mid-1950s economy and geology began to drastically affect operations of the Superior Northern and, in fact, affect the economy of the entire iron mining industry in the US and Canada.
Many of the smaller mines serviced by the Superior Northern were getting deeper and working lower grade ore at higher costs. Ore shipments and ore quality began to fall off. In point of fact, this same situation was affecting the entire industry, high grade “soft” ore was running out. US Steel was already beginning experiments with taconite in the mid-50s.
New iron ore deposits in Labrador and South America were coming on stream and beginning to ship high quality ore to European and Asian markets at lower cost than ore from the American iron ranges. Plus these new “iron ranges” could ship ore year around.
By 1959, the combination of economy and geology had pushed operating costs up and revenues down to the point where the return on investment fell below the level acceptable to the investors controlling the company and advances were made to the DSS&A to purchase the assets of the Superior Northern. The DSS&A at this time was in trouble itself for the same reasons but we do know that the assets of the Superior Northern were purchased by the DSS&A sometime in late 1959. The records of these assets may yet surface but to date appear to be lost somewhere in old DSS&A storage.
In 1962 the assets of the DSS&A were purchased by the SOO Line. The absorption of the DSS&A into the SOO Line further compounds the search for any Superior Northern records. Someday, as historians continue to chronicle and detail the histories of these three railroads, we can only hope the complete records of the Superior Northern can be compiled.
After the fire consumed the headquarters buildings of the Superior Northern very little remains of an operating railroad can be found except for several locomotives, a large number of ore cars and a caboose or two. These are still being operated by the SOO Line in their original markings and lettering. We assume that eventually all markings and lettering will be changed to SOO Line reporting marks. But, a real possibility exists that, considering the decline of iron mining, the SOO may well leave reporting marks as they are and scrap Superior Northern equipment as it wears out.
The Superior Northern was formed by hard-headed businessmen with an eye for profit and sold out of existence by the same businessmen because the profit wasn’t there, a cold-blooded, although normal, approach to business. Yet somewhere in that group of hard-headed businessmen was one with a somewhat whimsical sense of humor. When it was time to create a herald for the Superior Northern no conventional railroad symbols of eagles, winged letters, etc. would do. No, the herald of the Superior Northern would be a moose looking through a large circle inscribed Superior Northern. A rather unconventional herald for a railroad but somehow suited to the independent, off-beat spirit of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A rumor, not well substantiated, has been reported that Riverbend Transportation may name one of their newer boats the Superior Northern. Let’s hope, if it’s true, that they keep the Moose.
As it stands now, in the early 60’s not much of the Superior Northern has survived except some rolling stock and a few miles of newly laid rail. One thing will survive for a long time is the Moose herald, it fits the spirit of the Upper Peninsula too well not to be remembered.