Part of the display at the Soudan Underground Mine State Park which is home to Minnesota's oldest iron ore mine. Once ore left the crusher house, it traveled up the conveyor (located in the enclosed section of the trestle) to the loading pocket. The loading pocket is located beneath the “Head House”, which is the building at the top of the trestle. This is where the conveyor and pocket systems were controlled.
After the crushed ore reached the loading pocket, it went one of two directions. It was either sent directly to an awaiting ore car for transport on the railroad to Two Harbors (formerly known as Agate Bay) and the ore barges of Lake Superior or it was run out to the stockpile area at the end of the trestle.
The mine was started in 1882 and went underground in 1892 and closed in 1962 and stopped shipping ore from the stockpile below this trestle in 1963.
To see the underground train-http://railpictures.net/photo/477381
or photo 477381