Irons Up!
While we had several different goals for our trip to Northern and Northeast Minnesota, we had our eyes set on some solid Canadian National action on the former DMIR Iron Range. This area of Northeast Minnesota hosts several Iron Ore mining districts along Lake Superior, with several different railroads running their own different operations from the mines to the docks of the Lake. The main player for rail operations in the Iron Range is Canadian National, who serves the Minntac Mine in Mountain Iron, MN and the Fairlane Plant in Forbes, MN, and utilizes the docks along Lake Superior in Two Harbors and in Duluth, MN for shipping to other USS Steel Properties via former Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range rails. Ore up here is also sent by an all-rail route to different customers from here as well, such as the US Gary Works. The CN operations on the former DMIR are known for its concentration of older EMD power, including a few fallen flag units, and ancient Missabe ore jennies. With new CN GE rebuilds slated to infiltrate the region as well as brand new ore cars to phase out the old ones, the time to get out to this legendary area was now, and making the pilgrimage up here made me one happy railfan. While we hit the region during the off season for Great Lakes shipping, ore trains would still be running, filling the stockpiles in anticipation of a busy steel making season ahead. Let's get started.
Having freshly arrived into Proctor on the early afternoon of Saturday March 9th, we found the Proctor Yard job shifting cars with a pair of DMIR SD38-2s, including the final Missabe painted unit remaining on the range as the trailing unit. From here, we'd find ourselves on the Missabe Subdivision to chase a pair of Ore Trains, U717 with a Bessemer & Lake Erie painted SD40-3 leading, and U711 with a repainted DMIR SD40-3 leader, both former tunnel motors. Not bad for our first afternoon.
Sunday March 10th, we got up early, catching a northbound mixed freight and chasing an empty ore train north before continuing on with the day's Iron Range activities, as you'll see in the next video. Enjoy!
March 9th, 2024
CN Proctor Job - DMIR 211/215
CN U717 - BLE 906/CN 5337/BLE 900
CN U711 - DMIR 408/IC 6264/IC 6260
March 10th, 2024
NB Mixed - CN 3202/8018
CN U710 - IC 6253/CN 5244/IC 6263
00:00 - Intro
00:11 - CN Proctor Job - DMIR 211/215
03:08 - CN U717 - BLE 906/CN 5337/BLE 900 - Saginaw, MN
05:34 - CN U717 - Munger, MN
08:11 - CN U711 - DMIR 408/IC 6264/IC 6260 - Iron Jct, MN
11:33 - CN U711 - Forbes, MN
14:31 - Pacing CN U711 - Highway 7 in Sax, MN
17:05 - CN U711 - Kelsey, MN
19:36- CN 3202/8018 North - Whiteface River - Kelsey, MN
22:56 - CN U710 - IC 6253/CN 5244/IC 6263 - Whiteface River - Kelsey, MN
24:47 - Pacing CN U710 - Sax, MN
25:49 - CN U710 - Forbes, MN
Thanks for watching!
14 авг 2024
