Great Northern In Northern Minnesota

[Anonymous]

Did the Great Northern serve the city of Virginia, MN in the 1940s to 1960s? If so, did it run passenger trains to and from Duluth? What was the route followed by those trains?

[tankertoad70]

The GN did have a line that extended from Gunn Jct. to Virginia to service the iron ore mines. Much of the service to the mines was centered out of Kelly Lake, just outside of Hibbing. I am not aware of any passenger service provided along this line. There was GN passenger service along the line from Grand Forks, through Grand Rapids, to Duluth, which was termintated in 1959. To the best of my knowledge, this train never proceeded up the Mesabi Iron Range. I remember the train passing through Grand Rapids, and was headed by a GP7 pulling an RPO and coach. It was one of those neat "vest pocket" passenger trains, which would be great for modeling.

Don