Duluth & Iron Range Railroad locomotive No. 3, known as “Three Spot,” was built 140 years ago, in 1883, by Philadelphia-based Baldwin Locomotive Works. It has been on display at the D&IR Depot in Two Harbors since 1923 — a solid century. This photo is estimated to be from the 1940s.

Three Spot is a Mogul-type steam locomotive, which means it has a 2-6-0 wheel arrangement. It was used to haul iron ore from the Soudan Mine to docks on Lake Superior until it was sold in 1899 to the Alger-Smith Logging Company’s Duluth and Northern Minnesota Railroad in Knife River. After that it was renumbered D&NM No. 2 and used to haul logs.

A stamp on the back of this photo credits it to C. C. Grayson Rail Photos of Longview, Texas. Grayson is referred to on the SCVTV History website as “a railfan who shot photos of trains all over the country when he wasn’t collecting taxes for Gregg County.”