Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway

Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway
A former Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway RS-1 locomotive leads a photo charter for the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in 2009
Overview
HeadquartersMarquette, Michigan
Reporting markDSA
LocaleMichigan, Wisconsin
Dates of operation1855–1960
SuccessorSoo Line
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
1916 map of the railroad

The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (DSS&A; reporting mark DSA) was an American railroad serving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Lake Superior shoreline of Wisconsin. It provided service from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and St. Ignace, Michigan, westward through Marquette, Michigan, to Superior, Wisconsin, and Duluth, Minnesota. A branchline stretched northward from Nestoria, Michigan, up to the Keweenaw Peninsula and terminating at Houghton, Michigan, with two branches extending further to Calumet, Michigan, and Lake Linden, Michigan.[1]

The first predecessor of the DSS&A began operations in 1855. The railroad fell under the control of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1888 and was operated from 1888 until 1960 as an independently nameplated subsidiary of the CPR. In 1949, a reorganization of the DSS&A took place, creating new heralds and designating the company a railroad instead of a railway. In 1961, the DSS&A was folded into the CPR-controlled Soo Line Railroad. Since 2001, the remaining operating trackage of the former DSS&A has been operated by the Canadian National Railway (CN). Short stretches of original DSS&A trackage are still operated between Trout Lake and Munising Junction, from Ishpeming to Baraga, and between White Pine and Marengo Junction.

  1. ^ Gaertner, John T. (2009). The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway: A History of the Lake Superior District's Primary Iron Ore Hauler. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 349. ISBN 978-0-253-35192-0.