About a half hour into their trip from leaving the Minorca mine a trio of Death Stars pull the taconite loads bound for Two Harbors. Darth Vader would have been proud seeing three Death Stars.

Recent fresh white snow and cold weather and the black Illinois Central Death Star paint scheme make up an almost black and white effect on the landscape as empties return from Two Harbors heading... (more)

DM&IR 403 heads down the Missabe Sub and will soon take a left turn onto the Iron Range Sub towards Two Harbors and complete the trip delivering 120 loads of taconite pellets. The "new" CN/DM&IR ... (more)

In heavy snows the DM&IR 403 trudges along down the Iron Range Subdivision getting up to track speed pulling 120 new ore cars filled with steaming taconite pellets made at Arcelor Mittal Steel's M... (more)

A trio of SD40-3's put the pedal to the medal so to speak and power up to start moving around the curve at Iron Jct. off the Missabe Sub and begin their journey down the Iron Range Sub with hot ta... (more)

Ore loads from Minorca roll through Highland in a sea of white.

Ore loads from Minorca roll south through Fairbanks behind the only repainted Missabe SD38-2. A Minntac empty waits in the siding.

A trio of former Missabe units leads a southbound iron ore train. The three units, SD40-3's DM&IR 400 and 404 and the SD38-2 DM&IR 212, once wore the maroon and gold of the former Missabe. Now i... (more)

DM&IR and crew pass through Iron, MN on the way to Two Harbors, MN. This train represents half the remaining maroon of the former Missabe now owned by CN.

Illinois Central 6255 leads two DM&IR units and 130 loads of iron ore past milepost 74 on the CN Rainy Sub heading for Two Harbors, MN.

After leaving Arcelor Mittal's Minorca Mine, DM&IR 403 DM&IR 215 and I.C. 6255 and I.C. 6265 lead 130 loads of iron ore down CN's Missabe Subdivision and will head to Two Harbors, MN.

B&LE 909 (assigned to the DM&IR) heads east at Iron Junction for Two Harbors with a train of pellets from Minorca.

First repainted DM&IR unit to be used on home rails enters the Minorca taconite plant at 1135 am. The steam seen over the top of the train is from the nearly Minntac plant.