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mill near Birmingham in August, ending more than 150 years of basic steel mak- ing in Alabama. BNSF has moved unit trains of taconite pellets from Minnesota to this mill for decades. An interesting iron ore-related news
item involves Hallett Dock loading re- claimed iron ore pellets into older Air- slide-type covered hopper cars at Kelly Lake, Minn., to add weight so the cars can be used as buffer cars on crude oil trains. BNSF had originally filled the hoppers with sand, but that fine mate- rial was leaking out and the cars were becoming too light to meet requirements for buffer service.
Cliffs Erie
The owners of the former LTV Steel Min- ing Company (Erie Mining) railroad be- tween Hoyt Lakes and Taconite Harbor,
Minn., are planning on using the cur- rently dormant mainline to store freight cars. In July, sister company Northshore Mining was preparing to send SD40-2s Nos. 655 and 657 (ex-Rock Island Nos. 4790 and 4798) for use by Cliffs Erie to move cars into storage. CN will deliver the cars at Hinsdale near Hoyt Lakes.
REGIONALS/SHORTLINES WEST GARLAND MCKEE
Dakota Southern
Work has finally begun on the $36 mil- lion project to rehab Dakota Southern’s 41-mile line from Chamberlain, S.D., west to Presho. The work is being done by Koppers Railroad Structures, which has three crews working on bridges, in- cluding the large 4890-foot Missouri Riv- er Bridge at Chamberlain. Another con-
tractor is working on culverts. Koppers is replacing all the wood portions and will install heavier rail on the Missouri River Bridge. The firm will also replace all the upper portions of the line’s other bridges.
Flatiron Rail to Lease Yreka Western
Flatiron Rail has filed to lease, with an option to purchase, the 10.2 mile Yreka Western. The line extends from milepost 0 at Yreka to milepost 10.2 at Montaque, Calif. The YW dates back to 1888, and remained an independent shortline oper- ation. Later acquried by Kyle Railways, the YW fell on hard times because freight service was suspended in 2003 when con- necting Central Oregon & Pacific closed the Siskyou Line. Operations were sus- pended in 2008 due to lack of traffic.
SNC Embraces F40s
Iowa Pacifi c subsidiary Saratoga & North Creek took delivery of a pair of EMD F40 locomotives from LTEX for use on its regular passenger operations over the former Delaware & Hudson Adirondack Branch. No 319, an F40PHR originally built for Amtrak, last served Agence Métropolitaine de Transport in Montreal. No. 411 is an F40PH built for Amtrak that was later sold to GO Transit, and last served AMT. The evening southbound train arrives at Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with the freshly painted pair on August 19, 2015.
PHOTO BY JEFFREY D. TERRY
Runaway Plows into Engine and Station
A teenager who climbed onto a freight car and released the hand brake caused a runaway that careened at speed into a dead-end display track at Union Station in Utica, N.Y., on July 21. The resulting collision with New York Central 0-6-0 No. 6721 also caused severe structural damage to the station’s pedestrian overpass as the engine was forced beyond the end of track. After several days of inspections, the steam locomotive was extracted from the accident site on August 10. The teen will not face charges, and it is unclear if the damage to the locomotive will be repaired.
PHOTO BY DAN HOWARD
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