Burlington Northern Railroad Empty Iron Ore Train at State Line Tower July 1970

            This bird's-eye eastward view was taken where the former Great Northern double-track main lines crossed the former Northern Pacific single-track main line. Empty (abbreviated MTY or MT by railroaders in this day) ore trains plied these rails to make the run from Allouez (pronounced Al-Louise) Yard in Superior, Wisconsin to either Kelly Lake or Calumet, Minnesota where these MTY cars would be swapped for loads and either a return trip to Allouez or an all-rail run to Granite City, Illinois.

Trios of high horse-power locomotives were the typical power for these trains. Usually in the form of ex-NP and ex-CB&Q U25C and U28C locomotives from GE. But this string of 200 MTY Great Northern ore cars is being pulled by a power set that most in-the-know folks would tell you, "Just never happened."

Never say never.

Southern Pacific power did wander up to Superior infrequently—but regularly—during 1975-76. Those were usually SD45T-2 locomotives. But this shot taken in July 1970 when BN was just four months old. It's quite a sight to see SP Alco C628 7106 wedged in between a pair of ex-NP U-boats.

In the event that something unusual happened, many a railroader carried a camera with them in their grip. When colleagues on a train knew they had a truly odd set of power to show off, they would radio ahead to their tower men friends whom they knew had a camera, and give them advance warning to open up the grip, get out the camera, and get ready to take a picture of what's about to come rolling around the curve!

This shot is certainly the end result of one of those times when railroaders working in different crafts helped each other to record what is definitely outside of the norm for ore train power in the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin. The proud engineer and fireman are BOTH seated on the fireman's side in this shot so that they can wave to their friend in the tower, while the engineer's seat is utterly vacant. Having any kind of fun on the railroad makes for a good day, because those kind of days are few and far between. If you're a railroader then you understand exactly what I'm talking about.

Special thanks to Lee Thompson for sharing this view with me. It's a very rare one.

Taken on: January 22, 2017

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1970

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Sets appears in: • Aerials & High Views • Burlington Northern Railroad more » • Great Northern Railway • Iron Ore and Taconite • Northern Pacific Railway « less

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