Idled for part of the summer, U.S Steel Minntac is now back to full strength and pumping out taconite pellets by the train load. IC 6260 leads 144 cars of fresh made pellets down the hill from th... (more)

On this day in 1893, at approximately 5:19 p.m., for the first time a load of iron ore mined from the Merritt’s Iron Mountain Mine along the Mesabi Iron Range arrived in Duluth with ten cars pul... (more)

Something that appeals to me has been the trio of SD60's on the limestone trains working between Duluth and the Minntac Mine in Mt. Iron. These trains were running more at night to Minntac and bac... (more)

ex-DM&IR, CN 404 is leaving the iron range, and headed to Duluth docks to unload a fresh steaming load of taconite. Mountain Iron, MN. 10/01/2006

CN 5451 continues to lead the charge up the hill and is almost onto U.S. Steel, Minntac property with limestone loads on a fog filled afternoon.

A EMD quartet leads 144 ore loads down from the U.S. Steel Minntac mine ( barely visible behind the trees) on the CN Minntac Sub. for the CN Missabe Sub then onto the CN Iron Range Sub and eventua... (more)

The weather is clearing slightly from the fog experienced on the northbound trip as BLE 900 is now southbound with fresh made taconite pellets from U.S. Steel, Minntac bound for Two Harbors, MN.

A typical northern Minnesota November day. BLE 900 charges north on the Minntac Sub to load taconite pellets at North America's largest taconite mine, U.S. Steel Minntac.

DMIR main near Mountain Iron

A U-790 loads on the east at U.S. Steel Minntac. There is the huge stockpile on the right that Minntac has had to put on the ground and that is what has been feeding the E-Rail trains to Escanaba... (more)

It's always busy when the largest taconite mine in the U.S. is running at capacity. At this facility, iron-bearing rock called taconite is mined and processed into iron ore pellets. Annual product... (more)

Just under Highway 169, BLE 909 hugs the curve leading 138 loads of fresh made marbles from U.S. Steel, Minntac bound for Proctor.

Went wide here as pellets for Two Harbors roll down the hill. A few miles later engine troubles would bring this train to a crawl and they would limp into Allen Jct. to await rescue.

DMIR 400, complete with a little duct tape holding the number board secure, leads loads of fresh made taconite pellets down from the massive U.S. Steel Minntac plant on a cold February afternoon. ... (more)

DMIR 403 leads loads of fresh made taconite pellets down the CN Minntac Sub on the way back to Two Harbors, MN. A part of the massive taconite plant (The Minntac plant is the world's largest tac... (more)