From the DM&IR list, some news about the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range shops and roundhouse at Proctor, Minnesota, recently acquired by Canadian National:

An update on the DM&IR locomotive fleet.

1. As Chad Anderson mentioned at our convention, CN has
decided to keep the car shops AND diesel house open. The
union was told that 12 machinist positions will be retained
at Proctor and the facility will do running repairs and some
heavy component swap-outs. All overhauls will be done at
Homewood (Chicago) or Winnipeg. With some machinists
already electing to transfer to the docks or into train
service and with recent retirements, the railroad thinks
that only a small number of mechanical employees will actual
lose their jobs (assuming they don't transfer to Homewood).
That's VERY good news for these folks.

2. Interestingly, one plus for Proctor is that the wheel
truing machine the Missabe bought from Minntac when that
operation ceased rail haul a few years ago is apparently the
most modern on the entire CN system and Winnipeg's is
outdated and in need of repair. On the down side, CN is
considering moving the machine to Winnipeg as a replacement
(they can use it 24/7 versus limited shifts at Proctor).

3. CN has decided they will overhaul all the Missabe diesels
(200s and 400s) with the exception of the 300s. This work
will most likely be done at Homewood. Specific 200s
overhauled depends on any major failures suffered by that
class between now and overhaul time. The Missabe overhaul
benchmark was after a unit reached 1,000,050 gallons of fuel
burned. CN's system is based on miles, which isn't great
for the Missabe given short distances and heavy grades
(that's why the DM&IR used the fuel consumption method). The
locomotive shops will be getting CN's locomotive
maintenance/availability computer system in the near future.

4. Speaking of the 300s. They are all stored with the
exception of the 308. The 308 is assigned to Keenan because
they need a 300 to work Unitac's "ball and rod" track
account of the fact that the 200s and 400s can't negotiate
that trackage. Proctor can only reactivate the 300s with
permission (they had permission to use the 303 on the
"training" train at Proctor). Best guess is that they will
be put up for sale, baring a upswing in traffic on the CN
that requires their reactivation for a short period.

5. CN wants the railroad to run very lean with engines and
not have "extras" sitting around waiting to fill in for road
failures. The positive is that unlike Great Lakes
Transportation, CN is now making sure the reliability of the
fleet is better by allowing the mechanics to do some
preventative repairs and spend extra time making sure they
take care of all issues when an engine comes in (instead of
repairing just the one issue that brought the engine into
the shops and nothing else, even if they notice something
needing attention). This policy is also one of the reasons
Proctor will remain open.