Dock Switch Searchlights
Imagine staring down the signals while also getting a commanding view of Lake Superior. For 50 years, trains descended the grade approaching Taconite Harbor on the Erie Mining Company railroad. Trains passed the loop switch searchlight signals leading to the dock before dumping taconite pellets into the dock pockets, navigating the loops, then grinding up the grade empty.
The tracks are barely visible under the grasses growing on the grade. It's been 12 years since Cliffs Erie ran trains reclaiming iron fines from the dock and bringing them west. The middle bridge over Minnesota Highway 61 is gone, so it adds a nail in the railroad's coffin.
Dock Switch Searchlights
Imagine staring down the signals while also getting a commanding view of Lake Superior. For 50 years, trains descended the grade approaching Taconite Harbor on the Erie Mining Company railroad. Trains passed the loop switch searchlight signals leading to the dock before dumping taconite pellets into the dock pockets, navigating the loops, then grinding up the grade empty.
The tracks are barely visible under the grasses growing on the grade. It's been 12 years since Cliffs Erie ran trains reclaiming iron fines from the dock and bringing them west. The middle bridge over Minnesota Highway 61 is gone, so it adds a nail in the railroad's coffin.