It's cold and the iron ore pellets are hot.

Steaming pellets depart as the shadows creep along.

Rolling along the Minntac sub rounding the curve dipping under the Highway 169 overpass and beginning the climb up and into the Minntac mine and plant property to load iron ore.

A few leaves hang on defiantly as freshly baked still warm iron ore pellets steam away as they descend down the Minntac sub on a cold Minnesota firearms deer season opener morning.

The Keenan Local job is pulling a ballast undercutting and cleaning machine down the Minntac sub and heading back to their namesake yard after pulling it from a storage track.

Snow falls as the Dash 8s descend the hill from the U.S. Steel Minntac plant with fresh made iron ore pellets that are bound for steel mill at some point in their future.

Departing with loads of iron ore pellets.

CN 3316 leans around the sweeping curve before the 1.5% climb up to the Minntac property.

A load out of Minntac drifts downgrade out of the mine. The train is about to pass through Mt. Iron and pass MP 6 on the Minntac Sub. The train is dropping down a steep 1.5% grade out of the mine.... (more)

Four EMDs and 145 loads of iron ore headed to Proctor yard on a spring afternoon.

Leaving the U.S. Steel Minntac plant with fresh bakes iron ore pellets on a fall afternoon.

A quad set of EMDs bring Minntac made taconite pellets down from the plant and they are heading for Proctor yard and eventually CN Dock 6.

With work at Minntac completed, Canadian National local R901 cruises around the bend through the swamp outside of Mountain Iron, Minnesota and heads back to Keenan Yard where these cars will be se... (more)

Ripping around the curve to make the climb onto and into the U.S. Steel Minntac property to load iron ore pellets.

With CN almost exclusively running AC44C6Ms in the ore pool out of both Proctor and Two Harbors, it was nice to hear and see these veteran mighty marble movers called into service to run from Proc... (more)