Oliver Iron Mining No. 900

Oliver Iron Mining No. 900 was built by the American Locomotive Company at Schenectady, New York in 1940. It is believed to be the first diesel-electric locomotive used on the Mesabi Range. Weighing in at 123 tons and delivering 1,000 horsepower, this locomotive was donated to the Museum in 1973 by Marine Iron and Shipbuilding of Duluth, who had used the engine since its retirement as a temporary electrical generation source. During 1974, the locomotive was repainted by Minnesota Ore Operations of US Steel at its Minntac Shops. The No. 900 is still in working order. It is basically like the locomotives seen on trains today. Although the outsides sometimes look different, the insides are all run by the same principle: an engine turns a generator, which creates electricity, which is brought down into the motors by the wheels. There was a twenty-year transition period between the 1940s and the 1960s when steam engines were being phased out and diesels were being used more and more. One of the reasons for this change was that diesel engines (which ran on diesel fuel) could run for a much longer period of time, while steam engines had to stop every couple of hours for more fuel. There were also the issues of the weight, bulk, and mess of the fuel (usually coal) used in steamers.