My first visit to the EMCO plant was on December 30, 1980 and unfortunately our timing was poor as apparently they had stopped running mainline trains for the season as all the F-units were dead a... (more)

Nose to nose with former Erie Mining, LTV Steel Mining, Cliffs Erie and now Mesabi Nugget Alco 7222.

Fall colors come early to northern Minnesota as ore loads from U.S. Steel's Minntac plant roll towards Two Harbors on a beautiful morning.

A look back.... Erie Mining then LTV Steel Alco C420 #7222 and F9(A) 4214.

The Minnesota section of the Society of Mining Engineers operated their annual fall rail trip on LTV from Knox Yard at Hoyt Lakes to Taconite Harbor.

The yellow flags on the side of the F9s is a nice touch but it is Old Glory that takes center stage as the final LTV Steel Mining Company mainline ore train departs for the dock at Taconite Harbor... (more)

This is the shell of former NP RS-11 905 (BN 4185) which was purchased in 1988 as a parts source and by 2000 it had done its part to keep the LTV Steel Mining Co. RS-11 fleet running. This shell ... (more)

Some of the remaining locomotives that plied the rails for Erie Mining Co. and later LTV Steel Mining Co. sit in what once the bustling pellet yard of the massive taconite plant. The vegetation h... (more)

DMIR 403 East passes under Rte 666 just west of Allen Jct.

It's looking battered and bruised but this F9 earned its keep as long as LTV Steel mining was alive. Dormant for the most part since 2008, it's still awaiting it's fate on Cliffs Erie property. ... (more)

An Erie Mining Baldwin handles commercial freight from the DM&IR interchange while on the hill in the distance a pair of mine service RS11s haul a train of ore to the crusher.

Erie Mining/LTV Steel owned three Alco C420’s. Number 7222 was delivered as # 602 in 1965 and in 1991 was assigned to the Hoyt Lakes plant site where it worked crude ore trains hauling rock from... (more)

For Sale: One slightly used Alco C420. Assigned to the mine hauls for it's entire time at EMCO / LTVSMC, this beauty never saw mainline service. Now the old Alco sits in the weeds in the shadows o... (more)

Quiet and dormant. Hard to believe this place employed thousands in it's heyday as one of the Minnesota's Iron Range first taconite plants. Not much remains on the property now and nature is star... (more)

After a hard trip busting drifts and breaking trail during a late season snowstorm coming back from Taconite Harbor, Erie Mining Company F9(A) #4210 and three (B) units park off to the side of the... (more)