In 1938, the Spirit Lake Transfer Company was pulled into a newly formed conglomerate which consisted of Duluth & Iron Range Railroad and Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad.
The DM&IR was a major iron/taconite hauler in the region, hauling the high grade Missabe Iron Ore to Lake Superior and to Pittsburgh.
United States Steel continued to control the DM&IR until 1988, when they spun their railroad holdings off to Blackstone Group, who in turn sold them to Canadian National in 2003.
The DM&IR was a subsidiary of Canadian National until 2011, when it was fully purchased by Wisconsin Central, ending the long history of the railroad.
The WC Ltd is a fully owned subsidiary of Canadian National, who currently operates over all the DM&IR lines, including this line, which is a portion of their Rainey Subdivision.
08/19/21
Located south of Superior, this large deck girder viaduct crosses over the Nemadji River.
This massive deck girder span was built in approximately 1910, not only crossing over the river but also a large flood plain on either side.
Consisting of 49 deck girder spans, including 25 spans and 24 tower spans, the bridge is a typical steel viaduct, featuring alternating spans.
Steel viaducts are typically set onto steel towers, and this bridge is no different. These towers are supported by concrete bases.
Overall, the bridge remains in good condition and is regularly used.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design in the area.
The photo above is an overview of the bridge. The structure can be accessed from snowmobile trails.
| Upstream | BNSF Nemadji River Bridge (S) |
| Downstream | BNSF Nemadji River Bridge (N) |