‘All Aboard!’ Welcome!

By Ken Buehler

We are so very glad you are reading this while enjoying a ride on our North Shore Scenic Railroad. Thank you!

Getting here wasn’t easy, and I’m not just talking about the I-35 construction that greeted many of you on your way into Duluth. We all worked very hard to be here. You learned what social distancing really means. We all grew very tired of facemasks, no matter how wonderfully creative some of them could be. If I never attend another Zoom, Webex, Google Meets, or Webinar again, my life will be complete.

Because of some very hard work by our volunteers and staff, and support from the state of Minnesota, the CDC and the St. Louis County Health Department, we were able to run our railroad on a limited basis last year and be back SAFELY this year. It wasn’t easy and our operation was among a very small number of tourist railroads that turned a wheel in the last 12 months.

In fact, if you wanted a train ride last summer and fall, there were only three places in the Midwest that you could go. We were one of them. Even as times improve, we are still adhering to the same strict protocols that made for a SAFE season last year and again this year. Thank you for doing your part to help us out.

History has a predictable way of repeating itself. We feel that will bode well for the passenger railroads, Amtrak and tourist trains, here in America. Following the horrible pandemic of 1918, railroads rebounded that next year and recorded their highest number of passengers ever! Nine years later it was the Great Depression and the railroads survived that as well.

Railroads have survived the worst of times. Trains have been slowed by horrific weather, falling mountains, fires, labor strife and stopped in their “tracks” by financial ruin. The ability to sur- vive is due to their sheer size. Huge armies of workers built the railroads, mammoth machines were invented to carve out rightof-ways and steam locomotives became the most power engines on earth. Today, long trains pulled by mighty diesels are more modern, clean and efficient.

As our world focuses on the environment, railroads are becoming even more vital. With the exception of maritime traffic, railroads have the lowest carbon footprint of any form of transportation for people or product. Railroads helped build our great nation and are keeping us strong and moving forward.

With deep appreciation to our volunteers, our staff, community partners and mostly you, we are able to continue as a working piece of railroad history. The North Shore Scenic Railroad survives to remind you of your favorite train rides from the past or to make a memory for someone taking their first train ride today.

The Golden Age of Railroading isn’t just remembered, it’s back again! Thank You!

FRONT COVER: North Shore Scenic Railroad’s #245 is a GP9 locomotive seen here pulling the Duluth Zephyr along the Lakewalk between downtown Duluth and the shore of Lake Superior. The engine was built in 1956 for the Northern Pacific Railroad and saw service here in Duluth and across the NP system all the way to the West Coast. The engine is back to its original NP number. Photo by David Schauer

AT LEFT: Northern Pacific engine #245 served the Burlington Northern after the 1970 merger, which included the Great Northern and CB&Q. She was retired in 1995 because of another merger, this time BN with the Santa Fe. Here she is working the yard in Staples, Minn., on Sept. 4, 1989 renumbered postmerger to #1868. Photo by Steve Glischinski, used with permission