Eastern Railway of Minnesota

Locomotive #2 of the Eastern Minnesota Railroad at Duluth, MN.

Eastern Minnesota Locomotives Under Steam at a Brick Roundhouse (Unknown Location)

The Eastern Railway of Minnesota (commonly known as the Eastern Minnesota Railroad) was a railway company that operated in the US states of Minnesota and Wisconsin between 1887 and 1907. Its mainline ran from Superior, Wisconsin and Hinckley, Minnesota, roughly parallel with the St Paul & Duluth Railroad's line Between Hinckley and Duluth, and had a short branch line at Sandstone, Minnesota. During its later years, it was controlled by the Great Northern Railway which ultimately purchased and absorbed the enterprise outright in 1907. Today the EMRR's line is in service as BNSF's Hinckley Subdivision.

The Hinckley Fire.

The Eastern Minnesota Railroad Played an important role during the Great Hinckley Fire, during which a train loaded with about 500 Men, Women And Children, escaped the town of Hinckley MN as it burned. Thr Train was made up of Two Seperate Trains Hooked Together: [1]

"A train came steaming in on the Eastern Minnesota‟s rail line, and on this [train] about 500 people were saved, who otherwise certainly would have died. The train of salvation itself was not sufficient in order to be able to carry all of the refugees, but one knew what to do. A considerable number of freight cars stood coupled together on a side track and a freight locomotive, which was on a adjoining track a little ways in the woods, was coupled on the other end. So thus equipped with two locomotives, the train steamed away in the direction of Duluth again, loaded with as many people as the cars could accommodate."[2]