Missabe Northern Railway

NOTE: This layout will only be available for an extra session the week of ProRail.

The HO scale Missabe Northern Railway is essentially two railroads joined at the hip in Duluth, MN, their eastern-most terminus. The main deck (Mainline Division) runs railroad-west from Duluth to the Twin Cities Terminals of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The other line (Iron Range Division) climbs Proctor Hill west out of Duluth to an upper deck that represents running from Proctor railroad-west to the Mesabi Iron Range on mixed DM&IR and GN facilities.

Primarily steam with back-emf control, most with sound. 4200 feet of hand laid code 70 track on spline roadbed with 565 scratch-built-in-place turnouts. Now using easy-to-learn DTC (Direct Traffic Control) train orders as used on my alma mater C&NW.

Please see my pdf files (links below) allowing session briefing and job selection to only be about 15 minutes.

Click this link to see the: Welcome Missabe Northern Railway Recruits document in PDF format.

Click this link to see the: Missabe Northern Railway Operation document in PDF format.

Click this link to see the: Missabe Northern Trackplan in PDF format. (Zoom in while viewing to see much greater detail.)

Watch action on the Missabe Northern by following the links below to three YouTube videos:

Part 1: Overview and route to the Mesabi Iron Range

Part 2: Moving ore from the Range to the DM&IR docks at Duluth, MN.

Part 3: Freight route on lower deck between Duluth and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul

Superintendent	Jeff Otto
Division or Location:	GN Mesabi Div. and DM&IR Missabe Div.
Interchange Railroads:	CB&Q, NP, SOO, Minnesota Transfer; Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern; Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific; Mesabe Southern
Size of Railroad:	64x90 ft "L" shape - 3700 sq. ft.
Scale:	HO
Era:	early 1940s
Control System:	Digitrax with 100% radio throttles
Scale Clock Speed:	3:1
Length of Session:	4 hours
Number of Crew:	Up to 34
Train Control:	DTC (Direct Traffic Control) as used by C&NW and SP
Are Radios Required:	No
Listed Jobs:	3 true yardmasters each managing 3-4 switch engine jobs, 28 throttle jobs with heavy emphasis on switching of all types.
Accessibility:	Stairs, access to walk-out door optional
Distance from hotel:	23 miles
Estimated travel time from hotel:	22 minutes
Web Site:	YouTube videos – see links above.
Pets:	None

Layout Photos (click to enlarge):

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