15,000 ton train consisting of 123 cars loaded with taconite pellets cruises down the CN Minntac Sub after leaving the plant bound for the steel mill.

A fairly clean BNSF SD70ACe leads 123 cars of taconite pellets off the U.S. Steel Minntac property on the start of the lengthy journey to the steel mill with the 15,000 ton train.

All loaded out and departing U.S. Steel Minntac property with 143 loads of taconite pellets, DMIR 403 cruises at track speed down the CN Minntac Sub, then the CN Missabe Sub and finally the CN Iro... (more)

Idled for part of the summer, U.S Steel Minntac is now back to full strength and pumping out taconite pellets by the train load. IC 6260 leads 144 cars of fresh made pellets down the hill from th... (more)

On this day in 1893, at approximately 5:19 p.m., for the first time a load of iron ore mined from the Merritt’s Iron Mountain Mine along the Mesabi Iron Range arrived in Duluth with ten cars pul... (more)

Something that appeals to me has been the trio of SD60's on the limestone trains working between Duluth and the Minntac Mine in Mt. Iron. These trains were running more at night to Minntac and bac... (more)

ex-DM&IR, CN 404 is leaving the iron range, and headed to Duluth docks to unload a fresh steaming load of taconite. Mountain Iron, MN. 10/01/2006

CN 5451 continues to lead the charge up the hill and is almost onto U.S. Steel, Minntac property with limestone loads on a fog filled afternoon.

A EMD quartet leads 144 ore loads down from the U.S. Steel Minntac mine ( barely visible behind the trees) on the CN Minntac Sub. for the CN Missabe Sub then onto the CN Iron Range Sub and eventua... (more)

The weather is clearing slightly from the fog experienced on the northbound trip as BLE 900 is now southbound with fresh made taconite pellets from U.S. Steel, Minntac bound for Two Harbors, MN.

A typical northern Minnesota November day. BLE 900 charges north on the Minntac Sub to load taconite pellets at North America's largest taconite mine, U.S. Steel Minntac.

DMIR main near Mountain Iron

A U-790 loads on the east at U.S. Steel Minntac. There is the huge stockpile on the right that Minntac has had to put on the ground and that is what has been feeding the E-Rail trains to Escanaba... (more)

It's always busy when the largest taconite mine in the U.S. is running at capacity. At this facility, iron-bearing rock called taconite is mined and processed into iron ore pellets. Annual product... (more)

Just under Highway 169, BLE 909 hugs the curve leading 138 loads of fresh made marbles from U.S. Steel, Minntac bound for Proctor.