Duluth and Northern Minnesota No. 14 is a preserved MK class 2-8-2 light "Mikado" built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Duluth and Northern Minnesota Railroad in 1913. In 1919, the D&NM declared bankrupt, and the locomotive was sold to the Michigan-based Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad, to operate there as No. 22. It was renumbered back to 14 in 1923. In 1959, No. 14 was sold to the Inland Stone Division of Inland Steel Company, another Michigan-based corporation, and it operated there until 1966. In 1974, it was transferred to the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway, and then it was donated to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in 1981. The locomotive was restored to operation for use on the museum's North Shore Scenic Railroad between 1992 and 1998. As of 2023, No. 14 remains on static display inside the museum in Duluth, Minnesota.
History
Revenue service
The Duluth and Northern Minnesota Railroad (D&NM) was a logging company based in Knife River, Minnesota, which was 20 miles north of Duluth. They purchased two lightweight class 13 2-8-2 "Mikado" types in April 1913 from the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, numbered 13 and 14. They were the largest steam locomotives used on a Minnesota logging line, weighing in excess of 90 tons in working order. Primarily used as a freight hauler, No. 14 occasionally saw service as a passenger locomotive when it was assigned to the daily mixed train between Knife River and Finland, or on weekend “Fisherman’s Special” trains that took local residents into the woods. In 1919, the Alger-Smith Lumber Company shut down its operations, including the D&NM.
As part of their liquidation process, Numbers 13 and 14 were sold off to the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad (LS&I), who reclassified them as MK-1s and renumbered them to 21 and 22, since numbers 13 and 14 were occupied by two B-4 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" types at the time. No. 22 was reassigned by the LS&I to pull iron ore trains between West Ishpeming, Negaunee, and Marquette, Michigan. Though rather slow and lumbering, No. 22 could pull long and heavy trains, or "like all get-out", as railroad men remarked, and it never stalled when the trains grew heavier. Although, the sound of its bell was not pleasant for the crews’ liking, and they claimed that its whistle was strident enough to make one jump. In 1923, the LS&I purchased the Munising, Marquette and Southeastern Railway, and while 2-8-0 No. 14 was renumbered to 29, the MK-1 was renumbered 14 again. No. 21 was also renumbered 15.
No. 14 continued in revenue service, spotting cars around the ore mines, as well as pulling log trains when other locomotives mainly used for this work were temporarily sidelined. It also occasionally saw use pulling mixed trains on the mainline. Engineers always liked the locomotive for its big cab and for its strength to haul a phenomenally huge train. A peculiar feature of it was the noticeable steam-sounding peep emitting out of the smoke stack just before the exhaust. As the 1950s progressed, No. 14 was stored for stand-by service; it was last used by the LS&I during the Winter months in Negaunee and Ishpeming on "roustabout" service whenever diesel locomotives weren't available. By March 28, 1959, No. 15 was sold for scrap, while No. 14 was sold to the Inland Lime and Stone Division of Inland Steel Company of Port Inland, Michigan. There, it was reassigned as a switcher for a few seasons, but by 1966, No. 14 was retired from revenue service, and it was then used as a portable steam generator to supply steam and hot water for thawing limestone.
Preservation
In 1974, the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway's president, Donald B. Shank, who was also the founder of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, became aware of No. 14’s existence and whereabouts. He made inquires to Inland, and the company that owned No. 14 agreed to trade it in exchange for one of the DM&IR's surplus hot water generator cars. The locomotive was towed to Proctor, Minnesota in 1975, and it was officially donated to the LSRM six years later. Later on, the LSRM was looking to restore a steam locomotive to operating condition for use their new North Shore Scenic Railroad, and No. 14 was in decent mechanical condition. In October 1988, No. 14 was sent to Fraser Shipyards in Superior, Wisconsin for boiler work. By early 1990, Fraser completed multiple repairs on No. 14, and it was moved to the Hallett Dock Company shops in Duluth for extensive work. It returned to the LSRM in September 1991, where the remainder of restoration work was completed.