Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railway: Roster, Map, History
Last revised: October 22, 2026
By: Adam Burns
The Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific was Canadian National’s railroad across northern Minnesota, from the Rainy River to Duluth. Railroaders called it the Peg. A workman turned the initials into the slogan Delivered With Pride. Reporting mark DWP.
The logging railroad of 1901 became the bridge for lumber, paper, grain, and potash moving between western Canada and the Upper Midwest. George H. Drury’s steam guide has no chapter on this road. The steam roster below is the Canadian National Railways Historical Association’s list, 36 locomotives. The diesels built new for the Peg are 15 Alco RS-11s. On December 31, 2011, Canadian National merged the company, together with the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range, into Wisconsin Central Ltd.
Into the 1980s the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific was still using Alcos in main-line freight service. Several RS-11s at the engine terminal in Duluth, Minnesota, during September 1981. Rob Kitchen photograph.
On this page: Virginia and the Rainy River · Duluth, 1912 · The bridge · Passenger · 1939 map · At a glance · Steam, 36 locomotives · Fifteen RS-11s · December 31, 2011
Virginia and the Rainy River
The Canadian National Railways Historical Association dates the railroad to 1901, as the Duluth, Virginia & Rainy Lake Railway. Construction started at Virginia, Minnesota, and the line was extended to Silver Lake. Canadian Northern bought that logging railroad and renamed it the Duluth, Rainy Lake & Winnipeg. In 1908 the line reached International Falls. A bridge across the Rainy River connected it there with Canadian Northern’s line from Winnipeg to Port Arthur, at Fort Frances, Ontario.
In 1909 the name Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railway was adopted, and construction started south toward Duluth. Duluth was reached in 1912, and the railroad interchanged there with several United States lines. The association gives the finished railroad as 167 miles, from Duluth Junction, the Canadian National interchange, to DW&P Junction, the Great Northern interchange. A review of Jon A. Severson’s Delivered With Pride in Manitoba History gives the same 167-mile main line.
Duluth, 1912
Duluth was the south end the Canadian Northern had been building toward. Once the rails were in, the Peg had a United States port and a set of interchanges, and the parent had a way out of western Canada that did not depend on a single border gateway farther west. The shops the later photographs show are at West Duluth.
Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific RS-11s 3606, 3607, 3610, and 3613 lined up outside the shops at West Duluth on September 14, 1982. Doug Kroll photograph.
The bridge
The association describes the Peg as the outlet for western Canadian exports. The traffic it names is potash, lumber, and paper, handled on a main line rebuilt with 6,200-foot sidings about every ten miles so that 100-car unit trains could run. Its account of the through freights is a daily train each way between Pokegama and Thunder Bay, a daily train each way between Vancouver and Chicago, and two daily trains each way between Winnipeg and Superior, with sulphur and potash unit trains added as the traffic required. The Manitoba History review calls the railroad the most profitable of Canadian National’s United States subsidiaries.
Two DW&P RS-11s and a Milwaukee Road SD40-2 head back toward West Duluth on a transfer from Burlington Northern’s Rice’s Point Yard, September 15, 1982. Doug Kroll photograph.
Passenger
The passenger car the photographs record is one Budd RDC-3, No. D-301. In July 1957 it was at Duluth loading mail and express for the 173-mile run to Fort Frances.
The Peg's sole RDC-3, D-301, loads mail and express at Duluth, Minnesota, for the 173-mile run to Fort Frances, Ontario, during July 1957. Donald Smith photograph.
1939 map
An excerpt from Canadian National’s 1939 system map. The Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific is the line drawn from the border down to Duluth. The January 1930 Official Guide listing is on the timetable page. Author’s collection.
Logo
The Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railway logo. Author’s work. The slogan a workman made from the initials was Delivered With Pride.
At a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Nickname | The Peg |
| Slogan | Delivered With Pride |
| Reporting mark | DWP |
| Gauge | 4 feet, 8½ inches |
| State | Minnesota, with the north connection at Fort Frances, Ontario |
| Began | 1901, as the Duluth, Virginia & Rainy Lake Railway. Renamed the Duluth, Rainy Lake & Winnipeg. Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific from 1909 |
| Main line | 167 miles, Duluth Junction (Canadian National) to DW&P Junction (Great Northern). Duluth reached in 1912 |
| Steam | 36 locomotives on the Canadian National Railways Historical Association list. Drury has no chapter |
| Diesels built new | 15 Alco RS-11s, 3600–3614, August and September 1956 |
| Holding company | Grand Trunk Corporation, 1971, with the Grand Trunk Western and the Central Vermont |
| On paper through | December 31, 2011, merged into Wisconsin Central Ltd., controlled by Canadian National |
Steam, 36 locomotives
Drury’s guide has no Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific chapter. What follows is the association’s steam roster, in Canadian National class and road number. The quantity column totals 36. The list runs from three Dickson Moguls of 1902 and one Alco 0-6-0 up to a single Cooke Mikado, No. 3000, built in 1914 and retired in 1939. Ten-Wheelers 1347–1351 are retired across 1957–61, and Consolidations 2125–2129 across 1958–60. The RS-11s had arrived in August and September 1956.
Four Consolidations, 1981–1984, class M-8-a, are dated 1905 with 1928 in parentheses on the association’s card. The Central Vermont steam roster records four class M-2-a Consolidations of 1905 sent to Canadian National in 1928.
| Class | Type | Numbers | Builder | Built | Retired | Qty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D-12-a | 2-6-0 | 484–486 | Dickson | 1902 | 1925 | 3 |
| H-6-f | 4-6-0 | 1347–1351 | Baldwin | 1911 | 1957–61 | 5 |
| H-7-a | 4-6-0 | 1352–1353 | Rogers | 1906 | 1927 | 2 |
| L-5-a | 2-8-0 | 1800–1802 | Rhode Island | 1906 | 1934 | 3 |
| L-6-a | 2-8-0 | 1803–1804 | Alco | 1910 | 1933 | 2 |
| M-8-a | 2-8-0 | 1981–1984 | Alco | 1905 (1928) | 1957 | 4 |
| M-3-c | 2-8-0 | 2125–2129 | Brooks | 1911 | 1958–60 | 5 |
| N-2-a | 2-8-0 | 2455–2464 | Brooks | 1916–17 | 1957–59 | 10 |
| O-11-a | 0-6-0 | 7066 | Alco | 1910 | 1936 | 1 |
| R-1-a | 2-8-2 | 3000 | Cooke | 1914 | 1939 | 1 |
Fifteen RS-11s
Canadian National bought American-built Alco RS-11s for the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific. David Thompson’s original-owner list gives two builder batches, both phase Ia, with dynamic brakes in the short hood and Dofasco Type B trucks. Nos. 3600–3608 are serials 81934–81942, August and September 1956. Nos. 3609–3614 are serials 82026–82031, September 1956. The quantity column is 15. The Central Vermont diesel roster carries the same fifteen frames, class MR-18a, and the same serials. The Duluth photographs of 1966, 1981, and 1982 still show them on the Peg.
Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific RS-11 3607, in parent Canadian National’s early livery, at the engine terminal in Duluth on August 22, 1966. Marty Bernard photograph. One of the fifteen acquired in 1956. The Central Vermont roster later carries the same frames.
| Model | Numbers | Builder | Serial | Order | Built | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RS-11 | 3600–3608 | Alco | 81934–81942 | — | August–September 1956 | 9 | Phase Ia. Dynamic brakes in the short hood. Dofasco Type B trucks. On the Central Vermont roster as class MR-18a |
| RS-11 | 3609–3614 | Alco | 82026–82031 | — | September 1956 | 6 | Phase Ia. Dynamic brakes in the short hood. Dofasco Type B trucks. On the Central Vermont roster as class MR-18a |
December 31, 2011
In 1971 the Peg was placed with the Grand Trunk Western and the Central Vermont under the Grand Trunk Corporation. The Manitoba History review, summarizing Don L. Hofsommer’s account of that holding company, brings the American subsidiaries under Canadian National management in 1992. The corporation itself lasted until the end of 2011.
On December 31, 2011, Canadian National merged the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific and the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range into Wisconsin Central Ltd. The Federal Register of April 22, 2011, 76 FR 22748, carried the notice of exemption, Docket No. FD 35476. Wisconsin Central Ltd., the DM&IR, and the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific had filed jointly under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(3). The notice, filed April 8, 2011, scheduled consummation no sooner than May 8, 2011, the exemption’s effective date. Canadian National’s release of December 30, 2011, reports the merger completed on December 31. The successor is Wisconsin Central Ltd., controlled by Canadian National. The line remains part of that railroad’s route between Winnipeg and Chicago.
Related reading on American-Rails.com
- Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range · Minnesota railroads · January 1930 timetable
- Central Vermont · Central Vermont steam · Central Vermont diesel
- Grand Trunk Western · Milwaukee Road · Fallen Flags
Sources
- Canadian National Railways Historical Association, “DWP Steam Roster,” class, type, numbers, builder, built, retired, and total. cnrha.ca/dwp-steam-roster
- Canadian National Railways Historical Association, “Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific.” The 1901 Duluth, Virginia & Rainy Lake, the Duluth, Rainy Lake & Winnipeg, International Falls and the Rainy River bridge in 1908, the 1909 name, Duluth in 1912, 167 miles from Duluth Junction to DW&P Junction, and the potash, lumber, paper, and unit-train description. cnrha.ca/duluth-winnipeg-pacific
- Canadian National Railways Historical Association, “Reporting Marks.” DWP for equipment owned by the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific. cnrha.ca/reporting-marks
- Canadian National Railways Historical Association, “Road Switchers,” David Othen, with Leslie Ehrlich and Don McQueen. American-built Alco RS-11s purchased for the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific
- David Thompson, “Alco’s RS11 – Original Owners.” DW&P 3600–3608, serials 81934–81942, August–September 1956; 3609–3614, serials 82026–82031, September 1956. Phase Ia, dynamic brakes in the short hood, Dofasco Type B trucks
- American-Rails.com, Central Vermont diesel roster. Class MR-18a, the same fifteen serials. Central Vermont steam roster. Four class M-2-a Consolidations of 1905 sent to Canadian National in 1928
- Manitoba History, review of Jon A. Severson, Delivered With Pride: A Pictorial History of the Duluth Winnipeg & Pacific Railroad. The 167-mile main line, the slogan Delivered With Pride, Grand Trunk Corporation in 1971, and the 1992 management note
- Federal Register, April 22, 2011, 76 FR 22748, FR Doc. 2011-9820, Docket No. FD 35476. Notice of exemption filed April 8, 2011, by Wisconsin Central Ltd., the DM&IR, and the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific, under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(3). Consummation scheduled no sooner than May 8, 2011
- Canadian National news release, December 30, 2011. The merger was completed on December 31, 2011. The successor is Wisconsin Central Ltd.
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