Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range No. 229 is one of 18 class M-3 2-8-8-4 "Yellowstone" type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1943 for the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway (DM&IR), one of the primary iron ore hauling railroads in Minnesota. Iron ore is a heavy mineral, and combined with the railroads steep grades, made transporting the material from the mines to the Great Lakes a tricky task, and this required great amounts of power.
The DM&IR decided to build eight engines that would be similar to the Western Pacific's 2-8-8-2's. These new engines were built with large fireboxes and all weather cabs causing a second axle to be added on the rear truck. This arrangement earned them the name "Yellowstones" and were the most powerful engines of this type producing 140,000 lbf of tractive effort.
The first eight were delivered in 1941 and performed beyond the railroad's expectations, which ordered another ten of these engines in 1943 including No. 229.
No. 229 was completed and test run on January 5, 1943 and was scheduled to depart the Baldwin plant on January 9 but at this point it was mid-winter and the ore season was closed in Minnesota. Rather than going to Duluth or Two Harbors, No. 229 was sent to Denver, Colorado to be leased to the Denver Rio Grande & Western Railroad until the opening of the next ore shipping season. During that winter, No. 229 pulled long freight trains over the Rocky Mountains and Continental Divide. The other Yellowstone locomotives assisted on the Great Northern and Northern Pacific as well as the Denver & Rio Grande Western each year. When No. 229 returned from Colorado in 1943, it was sent directly to Two Harbors to begin working on the Iron Range Division.
The last Yellowstone to make a regular ore run was No. 222 on July 5, 1960 on the Missabe Division. It was sent to Two Harbors and put on static display for a very short time before being swapped out for No. 221. This engine deteriorated in the weather and was replaced in 1967 by No. 229, which had been stored in the Proctor roundhouse up until then. It is one of only three Yellowstones to be preserved along with No. 225 and No. 227.
In 2011, the locomotive was cosmetically restored by the Lake County Historical Society.
Gallery[]
