Got ore?

[Erik W]

I received my latest issue of Classic Trains magazine the other day and their was a nice article about railfanning the Duluth Missabe and Iron Range in the waning days of steam.  This sparked an interest in the DM&IR.  While traffic was pretty homogeneous, the operations seemed pretty interesting with trains transporting several different grades of ore, taconite, mining, steaming operations, Great Lakes ship loading, etc.  Does anyone know of anyone modeling one of the big ore railroads?  Any websites you know of about ore operations?

I like this photo, and PBL has made an N scale 2-8-8-4 . . .
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/dmir/dmir-s226an.jpg

This would make a pretty spectacular N scale model:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/dmir/dmir-dock-ags.jpg

Erik

[BCRail_FSJ]

You should take a look at  'Mid Sized Trackplans for Realistic Layouts' from Kalmbach

http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12424.html

There is a chapter on the Erie/LTV mining railroad which is very similar.   N scale and HO plans are provided.

[Erik W]

You should take a look at  'Mid Sized Trackplans for Realistic Layouts' from Kalmbach

http://www.kalmbachstore.com/12424.html

There is a chapter on the Erie/LTV mining railroad which is very similar.   N scale and HO plans are provided.

I do have Bernie's book and was actually just re-reading that part of it last night.

Erik

[wcfn100]

Being from MN I knew a couple people who did DM&IR or ore based layouts.  Dan Cermak had a couple award winning N-Trak modules that had an ore dock.  I think there are some crummy pics in the N-Trak manual.  More recently, Damian Kostron has done a lot of DM&IR articles for N scale Magazine.

You can see the list here:

http://www.grvs.com/Missabe/articles/n_scale/articles.htm

He's part of the Great River Valley N-Trak club.

I remember as a kid dropping down into Duluth on I-35 where you criss-cross the DM&IR line to the docks several times, ultimately passing under those massive structures (at least half of which are gone now).

I looked at getting one of the PBL models, but everyone one that Caboose Hobbies had on consignment from PBL had bad gears and it was unknown at the time if a fix was going to be supplied.  Then my next trip they had all been sent back.  I did get one of the short cabooses though.

I you ever get up to the Duluth area there's one Yellowstone in Two Harbors which is a nice trip up the shoreline and another in the Union depot in Duluth (now a museum - http://www.lsrm.org/Home/Home.asp).  The one at the museum is up on blocks and is part of an hourly show where the drivers start turning.

It's really too bad that Amtrak couldn't keep the North Star running.


Random thoughts complete - Jason

[wcfn100]

..and when your looking at ore operations, don't forget some of the lesser known ore movers*.  Here's a list from one of Dorin's books.

DM&IR (DM&N, D&IR), GN, NP (BN), SOO, DSS&A, MILW, C&NW, LS&I, WC, Algoma Central, CN, DW&P, Erie Mining (LTV), ReserveMining, and B&LE.

The CNW operations are real interesting due to the number of  F-M and ALCo locomotives including ex-N&W C628s.


Jason


*I'll assume that this discussion is mostly about Great Lakes ore as southern MN and west IL had their own ore operations as well.

[wm3798]

The Western Maryland did a healthy business in imported Manganese Ore from Venezuela.  Empty coal hoppers would be loaded at Port Covington for the reverse move west.  To keep the weight in check, the cars would be loaded to about half full... (ore being much more dense than coal)...  This gave the cars a revenue ride through to Pittsburgh, then a short empty haul back to Bowest for distribution to the mines.

Lee

[Mr. G]

IIRC, Kalmbach put out a book back in the mid-70s called "Railroads You Can Model" by Mike Schafer that featured a section on the DM&IR, including a pretty substantial track plan. 

[Denver Road Doug]

The BN Historical Society had a convention in Duluth several years ago that I attended.  I had no real idea of what to expect and WHAT A TRIP!  Great railroading towns (along with Superior, WI) and just awesome to see all the ore docks and other related infrastructure.  We toured the BN taconite unloader/conveyor and dock as well as the coal transload facility.  The DM&IR still spotted the cars on the docks and it was right after they bought tunnel motors and it was quite a sight to see a tunnel motor shoving cars across the dock.

I will have to get that issue!

[Erik W]

Take a look at these photos of an ore ship sinking in heavy seas.

http://www.boatnerd.com/

Click on the top photo: Loss of the Algoport.

Erik

[Sokramiketes]

Shiny Object Syndrome is hitting you hard, Erik!

[cv_acr]

..and when your looking at ore operations, don't forget some of the lesser known ore movers*.  Here's a list from one of Dorin's books.

DM&IR (DM&N, D&IR), GN, NP (BN), SOO, DSS&A, MILW, C&NW, LS&I, WC, Algoma Central, CN, DW&P, Erie Mining (LTV), ReserveMining, and B&LE.

That's the road I'm modelling. The Algoma Central served both the mine/processing plant and the end user (steel mill) directly, so 90%+ of their ore traffic was strictly on-line, and they only had a minimal harbour facility for loading stuff onto ships. (Which was abandoned sometime in the 1970s, and only used for incoming limestone and other ores for blending at the sinter plant.)

The AC's traffic was split with roughly half of it being mining related (sintered iron ore) and the other half split between "manufacturing" (ie. finished steel products and paper) and forestry (pulpwood, lumber, woodchips, etc.).

[amato1969]

I'm modeling the Lehigh Valley around Easton, PA, and I will have PRR ore trains en route to Bethlehem Steel from Phillipsburg, NJ.  Maybe by the time my kids go to college I can start on the steel mill!

  Frank

[AlkemScaleModels]

I received my latest issue of Classic Trains magazine the other day and their was a nice article about railfanning the Duluth Missabe and Iron Range in the waning days of steam.  This sparked an interest in the DM&IR.  While traffic was pretty homogeneous, the operations seemed pretty interesting with trains transporting several different grades of ore, taconite, mining, steaming operations, Great Lakes ship loading, etc.  Does anyone know of anyone modeling one of the big ore railroads?  Any websites you know of about ore operations?

I like this photo, and PBL has made an N scale 2-8-8-4 . . .
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/dmir/dmir-s226an.jpg

This would make a pretty spectacular N scale model:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/dmir/dmir-dock-ags.jpg

Erik

There was a nice N Scale ore hauler in GMR about 15 years ago. IIRC the owner's name was Cermak or something similar. N Scale Magazine also featured his layout. I googled his name and found this page http://myrrlayout.com/R/aspfiles/DetailPage.asp?Xfer_Code=10001780 It's a pretty good summary of his layout. I forgot that he used NTRAK modules in the design.


I visited several ore road layouts in the Milwaukee area at the NMRA show in 97. The ore modelers call themselves, "pellet heads."

[womblenz]

I'm modelling Ore

It's freelance based around Iron Range with a scratchbuilt ore dock of the #3 dock at Allouez

Cheers Warren

[wcfn100]

There was a nice N Scale ore hauler in GMR about 15 years ago. IIRC the owner's name was Cermak or something similar. N Scale Magazine also featured his layout. I googled his name and found this page http://myrrlayout.com/R/aspfiles/DetailPage.asp?Xfer_Code=10001780 It's a pretty good summary of his layout. I forgot that he used NTRAK modules in the design.

I got the chance to visit his layout some 15+ years ago. IIRC, there were two sections (of multiple modules) that were N-Trak, the ore dock and a passenger station.  His layout was a 'M' shape with a mine pit to the left with a balloon return loop, and then the passenger station, ore dock and a yard on the other legs going to the right.  I also believe that he did more GN than DM&IR.


Jason