On Saturday, Sept 21, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum celebrated the completion of the 15 year restoration of Duluth, Missabe & Northern business car "Missabe".
Photos from the event
"Missabe" was built in 1893 by the Ohio Falls Car Company as the DM&N was being built into Duluth under the control of the Merritt family, famous as Duluth's "7 Iron Men" for their discovery and promotion of the Mesabi Range. After the Panic of 1893 the Merritts lost control of the railroad to John D. Rockefeller, one of the first financial maneuvers that eventually resulted in the creation of United States Steel. "Missabe" was used by the railroad from 1893 until 1931. The car was then sold to Foley Brothers Construction and used as an office at the Boulder Dam construction site. In 1937 the car was sold to George T. Maloy of St. Paul, an executive with Foley Brothers, who moved it to a lot on the St. Croix River in Hudson, Wisconsin for use as a summer home.
Quote:
From 1937 until late '99, the car was owned by the Maloy family. The car stood on the east side of the St. Croix River in North Hudson, WI. It was our whole family's vacation home for many, many years. George T. Maloy had worked for Foley Brothers Construction, a railroad business. He purchased the car, laid tracks to the property, rolled the car down to the property, then took the tracks away. George then had a Norwegian ship builder build a porch on the river end of the car. George and Ina Maloy had 3 children: Dorothy (T.O.) Swan, James (Catherine) Maloy, and Geraldine Maloy Gray. When there was only one owner who had not passed on - Catherine Maloy - she donated the car to the museum.
The Lake Superior Railroad Museum might be unique in possessing the entire executive fleet of a Class I railroad;
-Business car "Northland", the "Missabe"s direct replacement
-W-24, the Northland's companion car
-Minnesota II (now restored to its original owner and number, Northern Pacific 517)