by Jeremy Winkworth
Why do we keep coming back to the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad (LS&I) every year ? Because it's always a great experience, that's why. This was the fourth annual ride, with 29 motorcars and one hi-rail ably lead by Al Freeman of the LS&I. We happened to hit a busy weekend, July 12th, and the shuttling of taconite pellets between the open-pit Tilden and Empire mines to the 1912 built concrete ore dock north of Marquette on Lake Superior was a non-stop activity.
After waiting for the departure of a train of 100 empty ore cars from West Yard, Marquette, we enjoyed a smooth 11 mile run up the hill to Eagle Mills, clear evidence of how well maintained the track is. After a stop at the locomotive and car maintenance facility at Eagle Mills, we motored through Diamond Junction onto a section of track shared with the Wisconsin Central (WC). This line, built in the 50's, was once partly owned by the CN&W also, but the WC took over all ex-CN&W lines in Michigan during February of this year. It took us past the old mining town of Negaunee to Euclid Yard in Ishpeming, which is now the base for WC operations around Marquette. As such, the yard contained a wide variety of cars, quite an improvement on the late 1980's and early 90's, when it was usually quite empty. The previous WC base, ex-DSS&A's East Yard and a roundhouse a mile further west, are now rusty and abandoned, awaiting development by the City of Marquette. West of Ishpeming, we dove into the backwoods of the upper peninsula of Michigan. Quite remarkably, the only bugs around that I saw were large dragonflies (according to the locals, we were right between the no-see-'em season and the black-fly season, neither one of which is a pleasant experience).
At Humboldt Junction, 12 miles west of Ishpeming, we took the branch to Republic Mine. Track improvements on the branch were continuing. Ties were being replaced and new ballast laid. We passed a line of maintenance equipment assembled for these purposes. Surprisingly, the wye tracks to long disused Humboldt Mine were still connected. Forty two miles from Marquette, we stopped just outside of Republic Mine, turned the cars, then motored back to Humboldt for lunch at the Cross Cut Cafe, which serves excellent food at very reasonable prices ! During the return trip, we paused briefly in the yard at Eagle Mills, then cruised down the hill to Marquette. Most of the motorcars rode up onto the ore dock for a brief look and an explanation of current dock operations. The dock is 1250 feet long and 60 feet wide, with 200 ore pockets, which can hold a total of 50,000 tons. About 4000 tons an hour can be loaded into a ship. Those who were on the ore dock on previous excursions may have noticed that the venerable water tank, used by steam locomotives many, many years ago has finally been taken down and the sections of it were loaded on flat cars in West Yard.
We had quite a few members running on the LS&I for the first time and all the ones I spoke with were most impressed with the experience. Congratulations to Mike Paul for masterminding this well organized and increasingly popular excursion and a big thanks to Al Freeman of the LS&I for leading us yet again. Another excursion on the LS&I this year has been scheduled for September 27th and I highly recommend it !
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Last Edited 28 January, 2018