With lights to depart, DMIR 408 begins to pull and head back to Proctor, MN.

The taconite pellets go by as they head back to Proctor while the empty T-Bird waits to depart.

Love the smell of steaming pellets and EMDs in the morning.

An empty departs Fairlane with a pair of North American stenciled SD40-2Ws.

Missabe pumpkin
Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range EMD SD38 No. 222 has made it to Minnesota from sister steel road Elgin, Joliet and Eastern. On September 25, 1994, the orange locomotive wit... (more)

IC 6254 leads passing between N. Fairlane and S. Fairlane on the CN Missabe Sub.

Coming out of United Taconite with steaming pellets bound for Proctor as a railfan captures the moment.

Coming out of United Taconite and crossing over to Main 1 for the trip back north to the mine to reload.

Asking for and receiving the necessary lights to leave the plant's yard and head back to the mine's course crusher to reload taconite rock before returning and doing it all over again.

Today the snow is falling, the wind is blowing and it's 22 degrees which is a far cry from 48 hours ago when it was sunny and 72. A T-Bird rumbles and rattles the old steel bridge spanning the sw... (more)

A week ago it was 10 degrees and snowing, today it was 70 degrees and sunny. The snowmelt was fast this spring across NE Minnesota and took less than a week so the rivers are high and moving fast... (more)

BLE 903 leads train U713 south from Mountain Iron to Proctor, passing through Meadowlands Township, MN at Swenson Road.

Train U717 from Fairlane with loads for Duluth, approaching Norway Ridge Road in Forbes, MN.

Fresh pellet steam wisps off of the loaded taconite cars as Canadian National's U717 snakes its way out of the departure tracks at the Fairlane Taconite Plant in Forbes, Minnesota. A trio of class... (more)

After doubling up their train back at Keenan yard, CN 2925 leads an all-rail taconite train down the main line beginning the trip for points much farther south.