Approach on the Distant Locust
It’s DMIR December
On the morning of Sunday, September 5th, 2021, DMIR402 leads a trio of EMDs hauling a heavy taconite train south past Hermantown, Minnesota on its final leg of the journey to Proctor Yard. DMIR402 is one of the many SD45T-2s that currently reside on the former Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railway “Iron Range.” Although control of the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range was acquired by Canadian National in 2004, they kept a number of SD40-3 “tunnel motor” units for use in the area as they already had straight air equipped, which was a secondary braking system used due to the weight of the ore trains mainly up and down Proctor Hill. With straight air, you can recharge the reservoirs on the automatic system, yet keep a set on the train, which can be adjusted, making coming down big hills with heavy trains easier and safer than turning retainer valves. Now, Canadian National is rumored to replace the older power on the “Iron Range” using newly rebuilt AC44C6Ms, meaning all of the C40-8s will be sent off to storage/scrap will most of the EMDs will be displaced. Although no AC44C6M is straight air equipped as of now, things may change in the near future. Additionally, Canadian National is replacing most of their older ore cars which were built in the 1940s and 1950s. Soon, this scene of an EMD trio hauling older ore cars such as the U-30 and U-31 class cars will be gone.
It’s DMIR December
On the morning of Sunday, September 5th, 2021, DMIR402 leads a trio of EMDs hauling a heavy taconite train south past Hermantown, Minnesota on its final leg of the journey to Proctor Yard. DMIR402 is one of the many SD45T-2s that currently reside on the former Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railway “Iron Range.” Although control of the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range was acquired by Canadian National in 2004, they kept a number of SD40-3 “tunnel motor” units for use in the area as they already had straight air equipped, which was a secondary braking system used due to the weight of the ore trains mainly up and down Proctor Hill. With straight air, you can recharge the reservoirs on the automatic system, yet keep a set on the train, which can be adjusted, making coming down big hills with heavy trains easier and safer than turning retainer valves. Now, Canadian National is rumored to replace the older power on the “Iron Range” using newly rebuilt AC44C6Ms, meaning all of the C40-8s will be sent off to storage/scrap will most of the EMDs will be displaced. Although no AC44C6M is straight air equipped as of now, things may change in the near future. Additionally, Canadian National is replacing most of their older ore cars which were built in the 1940s and 1950s. Soon, this scene of an EMD trio hauling older ore cars such as the U-30 and U-31 class cars will be gone.