The morning roadswitch emerges from a steam cloud created by freshly baked taconite pellets in its cars.
140 loads to the east of 6.
Loaded ore train decends Proctor Hill on a bone chilling morning (-15F, windchill -30F).
A pair of horsepower payback GEs work on CN's Ore Dock No. 6 in Duluth (ex-Missabe).
A CSX and UP GE have no trouble pulling 140 empty ore cars up the 2.2% grade out of Duluth.
The 07:30 Proctor Roadswith positions empty limestone cars for loading with the approach to shuttered ore dock No. 5 looming overhead.
DM&IR 411 grinds up the 2.2% grade leaving Duluth while in the distance an ice covered 1,000-footer (Paul R. Tregurtha) enters the Port of Duluth-Superior.
Crisp and cold at ten degrees below zero, the Proctor Roadswitch eases 140 loaded ore cars down the 2.2% of Proctor Hill towards Duluth.
The Proctor Roadswitch departs Duluth for Proctor with BNSF bentonite hoppers.
Loaded ore train heads down Proctor Hill for Duluth with peak fall colors.
Spilled taconite pellets from leaky loadouts are a constant headache for the locomotive department.
The morning switch heads down Proctor Hill for Lakehead.
