It was certainly a surprise to hear about then to actually see three IC "Deathstars" assigned to T-Bird service, albeit briefly, while the new kids on the block the much bigger AC44C6Ms ... (more)

An early morning T-Bird loads rock at the coarse crusher as the sun comes up for the day.

The last rays of sun for the day catch three "Deathstars" as they pull 95 ore cars loaded with taconite bearing rock towards the plant.

Bringing taconite bearing rock from the mine down to the plant and passing west wye at Iron Jct. MN.

The Thunderbird Mine stands in the background as the Deathstar trio is ready to make a pull. The crew is preparing to shove the train to the loader. The thick cloud cover made it tricky to find su... (more)

A trio of IC SD40-3s on temporary assignment working the T-Bird job at Largo about to shove back to the coarse crusher to begin loading taconite bearing rock into 94 old DMIR ore cars.

IC 6252, 6251 and 6260 slowly roll along, approaching Fairlane with loads from the T-Bird mine in Eveleth. EMD's are rare on T-Bird trains, making a trio of Deathstar SD40-3's that much more of a ... (more)

The famous Illinois Central Deathstar trio exits Main 2 at N Fairlane, slowly making way to the nearby United Taconite Fairlane plant. In charge of another train of raw iron ore, the trio looked a... (more)

A trio of IC "Deathstars" are on temporary T-Bird service while the usual rebuilt AC44C6Ms assigned now to this job receive some service at Proctor shops before returning to reclaim thei... (more)

A trio of IC "Deathstars" are on temporary T-Bird service while the usual rebuilt AC44C6Ms assigned now to this job receive some service at Proctor shops before returning to reclaim thei... (more)

IC 6252, 6251 and 6260 depart the Fairlane processing plant with ore empties for the Thunderbird mine in Eveleth, MN. All three units still wear the classic Illinois Central "Deathstar" ... (more)

IC 6252, 6251 and 6260 make for a classic trio of "Deathstar" SD40-3's as they unload raw iron ore at the United Taconite Fairlane processing plant.

A trio of IC "Deathstars" are on temporary T-Bird service while some rebuilt AC44C6Ms receive some service at Proctor before returning to reclaim their spot on this job.

An empty limestone train has just departed Proctor Yard for the short trip down the hill to the Duluth Docks. The R921 job will handle this U714 down to the docks and bring a loaded limestone trai... (more)

Heading for home with taconite pellets in tow behind a nice-looking set of IC deathstars.