While the Mineral Range and Hancock and Calumet railroads served the mines and communities between Houghton and Calumet, the southern range was left relatively untouched save for the Atlantic Mine’s own mine railroad. With the discovery of the Baltic Lode in 1897 such an oversight was quickly corrected and a third common carrier was formed, fittingly known as the Copper Range Railroad.

The Copper Range was formed in 1899, and by the end of that year over 41 miles of track had been laid between Houghton to the north and McKeever far to the south. With the opening of two other mines along the Baltic Lode – the Champion and the Trimountain – the railroad also added a branch line to serve not only those mines but their corresponding mills out at Lake Superior. In 1917 the line grew again, this time with an additional 30 miles of track heading northward to Calumet, following along the Torch Lake valley along the way. Additional spurs were added over the years including one to the Atlas Powder Plant.

The railroad would continue to serve the region long after most of the area’s mines were abandoned, though in a much diminished state. After the last mine on the line – the Champion – finally closed its doors in 1967 the railroad continued to eek out a living by hauling wood and serving passengers on the Milwaukee Road. But that too finally came to a close, and the line was abandoned and its tracks removed in 1972.

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