Shipping & Railroads - Duluth's History

Speaking of shipping; I was at a funeral, earlier today. During the meal after the service, I visited with a gentleman who was a grain inspector and was a friend of and had worked with the man we had just memorialized. He told me he had to retire from the job when he was only in his 30’s, because he had been hurt on the job. He told me about grain inspecting of the grain that came in by rail. It was really interesting. I never knew what “grain inspectors” did before, or what it involved, it was not an easy job. After he healed from his injuries, he went into the ministry, and was a minister until his retirement.

This conversation brought the subject of trains up, and one of the men volunteers at the Railroad Depot to maintain and fix our trains that are used for the “Scenic Railroad”, one of our tourist attractions. A year ago, they brought a steam engine from WI, and they worked on it and this fall there are offering trips up the shore on it. He and the other men at the table were telling about the history of trains in Duluth. It was a big industry, trains bringing in grain and iron ore from the Northern part of our state “the Iron Range”. Railroads were also big for passenger transportation. My husband's Father worked for the one of the railroads. It was a big employer too. Bob talks about his Dad taking them on train excusions back and forth to Minneaplis, St. Paul, and also to and from Chicago. Their family could ride free because his Dad worked on the railraod. The men at our table were saying that at one time in our city’s history there were as many as 150 trains coming through our city on a daily basis. Wow! You learn something new everyday!