Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad Essays -

Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad I. Historical Analysis Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (DM&E), one of the longest regional railroads in the United States, was Created in 1986 out of a railroad line others wanted to abandon, DM&E has overcome adversities and met many challenges to gain a prominent position among the nations regional railroads. The railroad's mainline extends from the Mississippi River at Winona, Minnesota across southern Minnesota and central South Dakota to Rapid City. In 1996, the DM&E acquired more than 200 miles of track from Union Pacific Railroad, extending from Colony, Wyoming through Rapid City to Crawford, Nebraska. DM&E began operations with 130 employees, 37 locomotives and no freight cars. DM&E now employs 350 people, and owns or leases approximately 70 locomotives and almost 3,200 freight cars. SALES REVENUE 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 45,726,418 56,562,557 57,481,756 56,913,098 60,921,784 NET INCOME 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 3,389,769 2,824,944 593,215 2,630,427 3,671,342 Grain currently accounts for more than 40 percent of the railroad's 60,000 annual carloadings, which have increased more than 40 percent since 1987 Other major commodities include bentonite clay, canned goods, cement, fertilizer, iron and steel, kaolin clay, lumber, paper products, scrap iron, soybean oil and meal, crushed stone, wheat flour and wood chips. Marketing and Advertising