On Saturday 24th August, 2002 under a cloudless sky, a total of 13 motor cars were set on the Q track in West Yard, Marquette. No ore trains were planned so we had the railroad to ourselves on this day. Al Freeman was our railroad escort, as he has been almost every year since 1994. This was my eighth motor car run on the LS&I.

On the hill up to Eagle Mills, there was extensive logging going on beside the tracks, disturbing the normally pristine woodlands. The pellets that fall from the ore jennies between the tracks were piled high in some places, up to 6 inches above the top of the rails. The problem with this is that it can spread the rails and it did interfere with the drive chains/belts on some of the motor cars. I’d never seen it so bad and was told that since the railroad is now run by from Cleveland-Cliffs headquarters in Cleveland , cost-cutting is a big priority and maintenance has suffered. Looking down on fully grown trees from the Dead River Trestle is always a thrill. I noted as we crossed the ex-DSS&A main line that the track has now been lifted. That 11-mile hill is always a good test of a motor car but we all made it without a problem. Arriving at Eagle Mills, we took the engine house track that runs through right next to the building. This was the bathroom stop for the morning and an excuse to look through the interior of the maintenance facility. It looks the same as ever, although I was told that there is pressure there to reduce costs, every expenditure being questioned. Having said that, I was also told that the LS&I is planning to start laying welded rail, a first for them.

Past Eagle Mills the sight of all the joint CTC signals not facing the track anymore was sad but CTC for a couple of trains a day just isn’t justified. At least all the tracks remain in place and are in good shape, being used regularly by the CN. In Harris Yard at Negaunee remain 7 green LS&I boxcars previously used in paper service at Munising, their paint jobs holding up remarkably well. The yard has mostly returned to nature, not having seen much use in twenty years or more. Past Negaunee some trackwork had been done and the rail bed was pristine. Across the high fill next to US-41 and through the deep rock cut we went, arriving at Euclid Yard at Ishpeming. This is the CN’s base in the area and contains the ex-Chicago and Northwestern passenger depot used for one of the famous 400 trains that branched out from Chicago . There is also a one-stall engine house, still in use by the CN. The Friday train from Baraga was in the yard, sporting an SD45 in WC paint, the first time I’d seen 6-axle power being used up to Baraga. The train consisted of 17 cars, mostly loaded log cars. The usual inhabitants of the yard were there, a mixture of old cars still lettered for the Soo Line, Algoma Central, Clinchfield and others.

Ducking under US-41, we headed north and then west, up yet another hill to the site of Ishpeming Steel. As best as I can tell, the place is no longer in business, although the spurs into it from both the east and west are still in place. The ex-Cliffs Dow switcher remains there if anybody needs one, as are a couple of Soo Line boxcars in the brown color scheme that preceded the red and white. Next up was the Viking Spur. Once again the place is deserted and no longer in business. At Humboldt we lined the switch for Republic and entered track that has not been used for 3 or 4 years. Fortunately for us, the LS&I had sent out a Pettibone earlier in the week to remove trees that had fallen across the line and fill in a couple of washouts, so that our passage would be a safe one. The track was not as overgrown as I had expected, the exception being the tracks to Humboldt Mine, still in place but disappearing into dense vegetation. Halfway down the hill to Republic a porcupine jumped between the rails and was shuffling along ahead of my car. I wisely chose to let him do his thing and after fifty feet he jumped over the rail and disappeared into the brush. It’s really beautiful along this line, nothing but forest, swamps and streams. Forty-two miles out of West Yard we arrived at Republic Mine, which has lost most of its buildings.

As we started to climb back up the hill, I swear that I could see the tail lights of the Calumet-bound Copper Country Limited on the Milwaukee Line that parallels the LS&I for a mile. We stopped for lunch at the café in Humboldt. The weather was still perfect, in the 70’s without a cloud in the sky. Since there were no trains, we had a straight shot back from Humboldt to West Yard with only a couple of breakdowns to delay us. Coming back down the hill from Eagle Mills, I noticed that the ex-WC track from Diamond Junction is still in place for a couple of miles and used for loading logs just east and north of where the LS&I scale house is. We drifted through West Yard and up onto the ore dock, where a boat was unloading coal for the power plant. It was my understanding that his boat would not pick up any taconite pellets after unloading. Some of the guys walked all the way to the end of the dock. I should have done that too but chose to poke around the landward end and take plenty of photos. Eventually we got organized and backed down into the Q track to set off the cars. Another perfect trip on the LS&I was over. Thank you, Jim Lindholm of NARCOA and Al Freeman of the LS&I.  

Pictures of Flooding under the Dead River Bridge in May 2003

Picture of an Ore Boat at the Dock (Mining Journal Photo)

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Last edited 28 January, 2018