Hustling Hoppers
It's Freight Car Friday so here is another look at THE freight cars synonymous with railroading on the Iron Range. This string of empty ore hoppers comprises Canadian National train U710 headed to Minntac for another load of taconite pellets. They are hustling over the Clouquet River at MP 25.5 on modern day CN's North Division Missabe Sub mainline. The 440 ft long and 40 ft high Warren Deck Truss bridge with deck girder approaches was once double tracked and is actually two identical parallel structures, with the one the train is on dating from 1924 and the abandoned one in the foreground dating from 1907.
The 24 ft 70 ton style ore hopper has been the standard since about 1942 and the Missabe amassed some 8000 between then and 1957. I'm not sure how many of the fleet remain today but we still saw trainloads of 1952, 1953 and 1957 vintage U29, U30 and U31 class cars.
This is an area that needs no introduction to even the most casual fan as the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway is in a word legendary. I won't bore you with pages of history as I couldn't do the road or region justice anyway. It simply needs to be experienced for oneself. But I will direct you to two resources. Absolutely check out the fabulous historical information here: www.missabe.com/
And for a fabulously well written overview of modern CN operations find yourself a copy of the April 2023 edition of Railfan and Railroad right now! shop.whiteriverproductions.com/products/rfr-202304
South of unincorporated Burnett
Industrial Township
St. Louis County, Minnesota
Thursday May 11, 2023
Hustling Hoppers
It's Freight Car Friday so here is another look at THE freight cars synonymous with railroading on the Iron Range. This string of empty ore hoppers comprises Canadian National train U710 headed to Minntac for another load of taconite pellets. They are hustling over the Clouquet River at MP 25.5 on modern day CN's North Division Missabe Sub mainline. The 440 ft long and 40 ft high Warren Deck Truss bridge with deck girder approaches was once double tracked and is actually two identical parallel structures, with the one the train is on dating from 1924 and the abandoned one in the foreground dating from 1907.
The 24 ft 70 ton style ore hopper has been the standard since about 1942 and the Missabe amassed some 8000 between then and 1957. I'm not sure how many of the fleet remain today but we still saw trainloads of 1952, 1953 and 1957 vintage U29, U30 and U31 class cars.
This is an area that needs no introduction to even the most casual fan as the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway is in a word legendary. I won't bore you with pages of history as I couldn't do the road or region justice anyway. It simply needs to be experienced for oneself. But I will direct you to two resources. Absolutely check out the fabulous historical information here: www.missabe.com/
And for a fabulously well written overview of modern CN operations find yourself a copy of the April 2023 edition of Railfan and Railroad right now! shop.whiteriverproductions.com/products/rfr-202304
South of unincorporated Burnett
Industrial Township
St. Louis County, Minnesota
Thursday May 11, 2023