Mineral Range RR 2015

On Sunday evening, July 26, 2015, Rod Peters and I drove to Ishpeming, MI to visit Clint Jones and his new Mineral Range Railroad.  We had 'worked' the North Shore Scenic Railroad Two Harbors train that day so we got a late start to Yooper Country.  As we drove through Ashland, we stopped to see the old Soo Line depot.  It was built in about 1900 and suffered a devastating fire in 2001.  It is being privately restored.

On display here is Soo Line steam engine #950.

On one of the buildings there is a beautiful railroad mural representing both the Soo Line Railroad and the Chicago & North Western Railroad which served the city.  All men pictured on the mural were actual railroaders and their name is listed beside them.

The new Mineral Range Railroad built new track from Humbolt Junction into the Humbolt mine.  Track here had previously been removed and the right-of-way used for a trail.  Now, previous unusable tailings are being transported 65 miles by truck to this site where a new concentrating process reduces the tailings to 25-33% of their original volume and is now rich in nickel and copper.

We (civilians) are not permitted inside the facility so we will catch our train after it passes through the gate.  Our lead engine will be a GP10, an ex-Great Northern engine.

 And our trailing unit will be a GP9.

The concentrate we are hauling is very heavy and trains are 20 loaded cars long.  The facility has about 240 cars, most of them brand new and they have steel covers.

Come along for a ride as we travel to Ishpeming where these cars will be left for the CN to pick up.

Above is Humboldt Junction.  The track straight ahead and the right-of-way we are on were LS&I (Lake Superior & Ishpeming) trackage.  The track to the left is CN track and goes to L'Anse and Baraga.  Mineral Range now owns the former LS&I trackage and CN has trackage rights over it to Humboldt Junction.

This is the CN track to the left to L'Anse and Baraga.

Continuing on our way, 

Lots of new ties are being inserted to bring up the track speed.

At this crossing, there WAS a school to the left.  So crossing lights had to be installed.  There is no school now and the lights are turned off but the train still has to stop and the conductor has to get down on the ground to "protect the crossing."

A siding holds the track repair equipment.

The Mineral Range has purchased a former Erie Mining Company ALCO C420 and will have it restored to operating condition for working on the line.

Entering Ishpeming.  We are on the main track, the next 2 tracks belong to the Mineral Range and the next 2 tracks are leased from the CN.

The Mineral Range started hauling concentrate in November, 2014.  Before the new gons with steel covers were built, the railroad used older gons and covered the concentrate with tarps.

The CN engine house is on the right.

And the depot serves as headquarters for the CN crews.

We head 'uphill' and then back our train into the yard.

Rod enjoys his view from the captain's chair (the conductor's chair).

We then do a reverse move down the main line and use the old SOO runaround track to access the Mineral Range engine house.

Ties on the siding into the engine house will be replaced shortly.

The Mineral Range converted two hopper cars into ballast cars that can dump ballast on the outside of the rails or between the rails.

And this is the recently constructed Mineral Range engine house!

Two other crew members worked the Pluto sub and were just finishing their work so we didn't have the opportunity to ride that train.  Here they head back to wrap up their switching.

Since the MR moves hazaardous materials, they are required to have a buffer car.  They are using a former Soo Line steel caboose, repainted ORANGE!!!

We had several hours remaining in the day so we headed to Marquette, MI.  On the way we visited the Michigan Mining Museum (no pix) which was very interesting.  Then down the hill to see the old abandoned DSS&A/Soo Line iron ore dock.

 This dock was constructed in 1931 and was taken out-of-service in 1971.  

 We journeyed up the shoreline to the Presque Isle, the location of the LS&I taconite dock.  This dock is in active service today.

 In the park are preserved LS&I equipment:  an engine, ore car, and caboose.

 We stopped by Eagle Mills, the location of the LS&I yard, but it is fenced off these days and inaccessible to us.

 The following day we headed back home.  Just north of Channing, MI, we found a simple hopper unloading facility.  The material unloaded here looked like cement.

In Channing, MI we found the E&LS (Escanaba & Lake Superior) yards but no action!

The Channing depot, former Milwaukee Road, is rapidly deteriorating. 

We had my scanner on and heard a train was arriving from the north!  They were bringing stored cars back south.  They cut off at the north switch and then put the engine in the engine house.

The conductor told us a train would be arriving from the south later in the afternoon but we couldn't wait so we headed for Wisconsin!  At the state line Wisconsin Visitor Center, we found a great display of local history and wildlife.  Don't miss it if you are in that neighborhood.  Next I stopped at the Lumberjack Steam Train at Laona which operates their famous 4-spot steam engine.

They have no back-up engine and the engineer told me they have never missed an operating day!  Also, he is a paid worker and works EVERY day all summer!  (He must love steam!!!)

Next stop Rhinelander and the Logging Museum.  It's a great museum and free (contributions encouraged).  One of the great features is this Phoenix steam log engine used for hauling logs out of the woods.  It replaced the horses or oxen and could pull much more.

There's an operating Phoenix steam engine in Wabeno, WI that I would love to see run!  These machines were built in Eau Claire, WI!!!

Also displayed is a narrow gauge steam engine. 
 

All museums need volunteers and this man was restoring a narrow gauge log car.  He's a retired physics teacher and he and others did much work on the narrow gauge coach in the background.

There's much more than the train stuff at this museum as it is a logging museum.  They also have things like an outboard motor collection and a collection of CCC memorabilia.  Here is their train depot which had lots of train stuff inside.

Including a large model railroad in the basement.

The Rhinelander scale house (used for weighing railroad cars) was saved.  (The picture wouldn't upload but here is the inside of the scale house.

And they are fortunate to have a Soo Line wood caboose, which has been fully restored.

To me, one of the neatest exhibits was an actual turntable, used for turning narrow gauge equipment.

So if you are in the Rhinelander area, make sure to visit the logging museum.  Continuing on our way, we stopped at the former Soo Line roundhouse in Rhinelander.  This was much bigger originally but at least 5 stalls have been saved.

The CN is storing hopper cars, and a few coil cars, in the yard.

There are very few industries in Rhinelander still served by rail but we found this plastics operation on the west side of the city.  There probably are a few more industries but we didn't search for any.

Continuing west, I wanted to stop in at the Tomahawk Railway, now owned by the Genesee & Wyoming.  Unfortunately, we found nothing happening, not even a visible engine (probably in the engine house).

But the former Milwaukee Road depot in Tomahawk still exists.

In the city park we found a Marinette, Tomahawk & Western steam engine.  It appears to be in good shape, at least it has a nice coat of paint on it.

At Prentice, the depot appears to be in fine shape.

And we stopped in Hawkins for a shot of the Soo Line depot, now a museum.

We crammed a lot of train action and a lot of MILES into two days but it was well worth it.  Another fun vacation!!!!

Durand Speeders May 2015

On Saturday, May 9, 2015, our Chippewa Valley Motorcar Club took a group called The Prairie Enthusiasts down into the Tiffany Bottoms south of Durand.  Each Saturday in May and September our group escorts nature groups into the nature preserve to view nature, mostly birds and grasses/shrubs/trees.  The group brings experts to explain to the riders what they are seeing.

We stop the train in several places for the riders to get off.  We had an ornithologist (bird expert) with us.  The group was able to identify 61 different birds, either by sight or sound.  On past trips, when we have had two experts, they have come up with over 100 birds.

One of the stops was at Erickson, the site where a family by the name of Erickson once had a farm.

Note the port-a-potty for the convenience of passengers and crew.  At this location there is a large native prairie.  Beyond the prairie below and before the bluff is the Chippewa River.  This hillside is magnificent in the fall with the trees in their full colors.

We stop at the Pony Truss bridge.  Here is my daughter Crystal, my book editor!  Note the gash on the left side of the bridge.  At this bridge, in January 1977, a train derailed.  The Milwaukee Road then closed down this section of track between Durand and the Mississippi River.

 
Even though the group had been down here the previous Saturday, we had to stop four times to remove trees that had fallen during the week.

 But the trees form a natural tunnel in many places.

One of the stops was at Hargraves Prairie, the site where another family had tried farming in the 1940s.  Two experts explained the grasses and trees at this location.

Daughter Crystal and husband Bill Mulry enjoyed the ride on a beautiful May morning.

Kentucky Railway Museum

On Sunday, November 16, 2014, I visited the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky.  I had lined up a cab ride in their CF7 engine.  The weather was overcast with imminent rain (snow later that night), so these pictures have been lightened with Photoshop.

You know you are in Kentucky when . . .

This was a small horse farm.  The big ones are near Lexington.

And this is the engine that I came to ride in.

#2546 was originally built in 1948 as an F-7 by EMD and then rebuilt and converted by Santa Fe Railroad in 1973 and given the model designation CF-7. It is a diesel - electric locomotive powered by a single 16 cylinder engine developing 1500 hp. It is the only known CF-7 in the original Santa Fe paint scheme.

It was originally an F7, commonly called a "covered wagon."  Hard to believe, but here's what these engines looked like before they were "remodeled."

The engine crew was a husband and wife who drove down 3 hours from southern Illinois to run this one train on this day.  Husband Mike ran it out, long hood forward, to Boston.  After the run around, wife Cheryl ran it back to New Haven.  Here Mike blows out the test cocks before starting it.

Here was our train of five cars for the day.

I had a lot of free time before the 2 PM departure so I looked over the grounds.  They have LOTS of old equipment but the grounds are inaccessible for viewing.  Here's some of the equipment.

They store coal cars for the CSX Railroad over the winter.  Note one of them on the right.

Note the Soo Line caboose.  They use it for special events.

One of the "stars" of the Museum is Louisville & Nashville (L&N) steam engine #152.  L&N #152 is a 4-6-2 Pacific type locomotive built in 1905 by Rogers Locomotive Works. #152 is the official steam locomotive of the Commonwealth of Kentucky as designated by an act of the Kentucky Legislature. It is also listed on the national registry of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior.  It is currently out-of-service due to required 15-year inspection.  They are raising funds to do this.

I still had free time so I went inside their depot to look at the displays.

They have this model railroad but they have a large building with a large model railroad but it was flooded a few years ago and it hasn't been restored yet.

I then found this computer and discovered it had "Train Simulator" on it and anyone could "play" it.  It is a realistic train operation game with scenery, sidings, etc. on the screen.  Keys are used for train controls.  I had purchased this game when I first retired and it loaded into my computer but the computer gradually slowed down and locked up.  It happened over and over.  The company even sent me a replacement game but it still happened.  They said my computer had enough memory but I don't think it did.  When I get this next book done, I'm going to try it on this computer.  Anyway, I spent 45 minutes at these controls.

Back outside I found this unique L&N station wagon, used for loading/unloading supplies from the baggage car of passenger trains.  In WWII, due to the large number of casualties that were brought back home, an extension or riser was put on top so it was level with the baggage car door, eliminating much heavy lifting of the caskets from the cars.

Here is track side of the depot.

They have 3 working diesels.  The CF7 we will use today.  Also a GP7 high nose that is in the shop for repainting.  They used it most of the summer and I'm glad they weren't using it today as visibility is not good in those engines.  But they have another star.  A MONON BL2.

I was in a BL2 last summer on the Saratoga & North Creek Railroad in New York but it wasn't running due to handrails being ripped off.  So I would like to go back to the KRM when this unit is running (for a cab ride of course).  Due to NO visibility to the rear with this unit, it must be paired with another engine.

Here's some pix on the train ride.  (That's the creek that overflowed part of town a few years ago)

The L&N had unique Milepost markers.

This ride is almost 12 miles one way, out to Boston and there are 14 grade crossings.  Even though some are very seldom used farmer's crossings, they blow the whistle at each of them.  And, they blow the whistle at every bridge to warn anyone on it (even the very short bridges over a gully).  So there was a lot of whistle blowing both directions.  And they announce every milepost, slow order, yard limits, etc.  So there is a lot of railroad chatter.

On the way back it started raining and we had a lot of wheel slip with the engine.  They said this is the worst engine they have for wheel slip.  Apparently the tractive effort isn't good with these engines.  We tried sand (we think sand was dropping) but didn't notice much effect.  The conductor, Willy, who has been with this railroad for years and used to be the engineer, told us to take a 5-lb. set on the independent, or engine brake.  I thought this would retard us but apparently the brake shoe "rubs" moisture off the wheel and maybe warms it a little.  Again, I didn't notice any difference in the result but maybe it helped.  We were down to 3 MPH and gradually made it to the top of the hill where gravity took over and we were fine.  Passing under the Bluegrass Parkway.

 By the time we got back, it was raining, and cold.  So I thanked the crew and high tailed it out of there.  But Thanks Much to the Kentucky Railway Museum and crew for a great afternoon.

That night we had snow, and record cold temperatures for Kentucky (good thing it didn't happen before the train ride).

And the reason we were visiting Louisville.  Daughter Allison and grandson Christopher (1+)

And granddaughter Catherine, whose 3rd birthday was on Sunday, when I went train riding!