Saint Paul and Duluth Railroad - Stock Certificate

Originally incorporated in 1863 and known as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad, the road provided the first service between Duluth and the Twin Cities upon its completion in 1870. Serving as the all-important eastern terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the road linked the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. A victim of the panic of 1873, the company defaulted on its bonds and was reorganized in 1877 as the Saint Paul and Duluth Railroad. It was absorbed by the Northern Pacific in 1900. These exceptional stocks are beautifully printed by American Bank Note Company. The two Steamships and Locomotive scenes are so very impressive. A fine example of engraving of this Golden Era of Financial Printing.

The St. Paul and Duluth Railroad was reorganized from the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad in 1877. It was bought by the Northern Pacific in 1900. Known as the "Skally Line", it operated from Saint Paul to Duluth, Minnesota, with branches to Minneapolis, Taylors Falls, Kettle River, and Cloquet, in Minnesota, and Grantsburg and Superior in Wisconsin.

The line was purchased by the Northern Pacific Railway, which was succeeded by the Burlington Northern and then the Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Most of the line became redundant with other lines after the Burlington Northern merger, as it paralleled another line of the Great Northern Railway. Most of the line therefore was abandoned and many segments were turned into rail trails.

The disposition of those segments is as follows:

• St. Paul, Minnesota to Maplewood, Minnesota - abandoned; now part of the Bruce Vento Regional Trail
• Maplewood, Minnesota to Hugo, Minnesota - now operated by the Minnesota Commercial Railway
• Hugo, Minnesota to North Branch, Minnesota - abandoned; now the Hardwood Creek Regional Trail and Sunrise Prairie Trail
• North Branch, Minnesota to Hinckley, Minnesota - now operated by the St. Croix Valley Railroad
• Hinckley, Minnesota to Duluth, Minnesota - abandoned; now the Willard Munger State Trail

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