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limestone to Minntac. These locomotives had been used to move raw unprocessed ore from United Taconite’s Thunderbird mine to its Fairlane processing plant but were released from that duty when min- ing ceased. On August 26, CN activated Cen- tralized Traffic Control (CTC) along its Missabe Subdivision in Minnesota be- tween North Coons and Alborn. The next step is to complete CTC between Alborn and milepost 51, south of Fairlane. Once this section is activated, the entire main- line between Chicago and the Canadian border will be under CTC operation. Older Duluth, Missable & Iron Range, searchlight-type signals are being re- placed in the process with LED-type hooded signals that are PTC compliant.
BNSF Railway
U.S. Steel’s decision to shut down the last blast furnace at its Fairfield mill near Birmingham, Ala., has ended BNSF Railway’s shipments of Minneso- ta ore to that facility. What is believed to have been the last ore train for Fairfield arrived in Birmingham on August 8. The train symbol was U-KESBIR0-09T with BNSF SD70ACe 8495, SD70ACe 9369, and ES44AC 6035 for power along with 123 loaded hoppers for a total of 15,058 tons. The lack of this traffic combined with Keewatin Taconite’s production hiatus and Magnetation’s reduced ship- ments has resulted in 32 employees being furloughed in the Duluth-Superi- or terminal. Reduced ore production is also reflected in shipments on the Great Lakes, which totaled 6.6 million tons in July, a decrease of 9 percent compared with a year ago. BNSF’s Allouez ore dock
Tribute in the Catskills New York Central
The Catskill Mountain Railroad debuted its tribute to New York Central heritage on September 5, 2015. Flying white flags, CMRR Alco S-1 No. 407 leads an afternoon excursion past the Sleepy Hollow Campground near Phoenicia, N.Y. Built in 1946 for Long Island Rail Road, it was acquired from MTA Staten Island Railway in 2010. The locomotive was painted and lettered by CMRR volunteers (including the photographer) following practice for NYC Alco switchers. CMRR leases 38 miles of the former NYC Catskill Mountain Branch (ex-Ulster & Delaware Railroad) from Ulster County, currently in dispute.
PHOTO BY KEANE MAHER
was off over 13 percent compared to July 2014.
On September 3, Lundin Mining an- nounced that it had shipped 2,500 rail cars from its copper-nickel processing mill at Humboldt, Mich. This milestone came just 11 months after the former iron ore processing plant had shipped its first cars of concentrate. Shortline Mineral Range serves the mill using a former Lake Superior & Ishpeming line that has been rebuilt. Also near Hum- boldt, plans to ship iron ore from the defunct Republic mine to nearby Empire mine for processing have been set back due to lack of funding. Preliminary plans called for Mineral Range to relay rough- ly seven miles of former LS&I track from Humboldt to Republic in order to move the ore to Ishpeming, where CN would forward the material to Empire for final processing.
Mineral Range Cliffs Erie
The reported sale of 93 newer ore cars by Cliffs Erie used previously by LTV Steel Mining Company has fallen through for unknown reasons. The cars were purchased new from Difco to replace a like number of older cars destroyed in a runaway accident at Taconite Harbor in 1997. These are the only ore cars re- maining on the property after all of the older cars were recently cut up for scrap. The cars had reportedly been stenciled with new reporting marks and mainte- nance work performed in anticipation of their movement off the property. During August Canadian National delivered two trains of empty covered hoppers for storage along the dormant
LTV Steel Mining Company mainline near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. The cars had been used in movement of frac sand to various oil fields. Northshore Min- ing SD40-2s 655 (ex-Rock Island 4790) and 657 (ex-Rock Island 4798) are being used by Cliffs Erie to move the cars into storage. Also indicative of softness in the oil drilling business, North Shore Sce- nic Railroad received a train of 82 sand cars for storage along its former Duluth, Missabe & Ioron Range line between Du- luth and Two Harbors, Minn. Mesabi Nugget, located adjacent to
Cliffs Erie near Hoyt Lakes, shipped its leased EMD SW1200 off the property on July 31, 2015. With the iron nugget plant on an extended production hiatus that could last into 2017, there is no need for RLCX 1245. It is believed the other locomotive at Mesabi Nugget, for- mer Erie Mining Company RS11 7209, is still on the property.
MONTANA RAIL LINK JUSTIN FRANZ
BNSF Detours Due To Wildfires
Wildfires were burning across the Pacific Northwest in August in one of the busiest wildfire seasons in years. But despite its close proximity to a handful of blazes, Montana Rail Link has escaped the flames unharmed. However, the fires certainly had their impact on the regional railroad, especially after a fire near Essex, Mont., shut down BNSF Railway’s main line across the northern part of the state. Starting August 20 and going into the early days of September, BNSF
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