CN in Minnesota's Iron Range - Part 3: Missabe and Iron Range Subs

Описание: In Part 3: we start off chasing a loaded taconite train south out of Fairlane as the sun set and temperature dropped. The next morning, we see a load out of Minntac for Two Harbors and an empty returning that it was meeting. Next, we see a pair of loaded "T Bird" raw ore trains out of the Thunderbird mine, heading for processing at Fairlane. Finally, we see a northbound intermodal train which shows us the whole reason why CN was interested in the DMIR in the first place.

Part of CN's 2004 purchase of Great Lakes Transportation, the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range comprises a considerable amount of CN's American traffic. Already owners of the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific as well as the Wisconsin Central, CN sought to secure what was, until then, a missing link in their network. The 2007 Elgin, Joliet and Eastern purchase would constitute "mission accomplished" for CN, at that point having created a triangle at the centre of their North American transcontinental network, so that traffic between Toronto and Winnipeg could be routed via Chicago or Northern Ontario. Nearly 20 years later, contrary to what many critics of the DMIR purchase suggested at the time, CN operations have continued and remain robust across the former DMIR network. In addition to accommodating the through intermodal, unit and freight trains, local freight, limestone, bentonite clay, raw ore and taconite pellets comprise a huge portion of rail traffic on CN's subdivisions in Minnesota. This video series will cover a February 2024 visit to Minnesota's Iron Range over several videos. While train symbols are usually simplified on this channel to just the basic train number which would be used over the radio, the nature of operations on the former DMIR means that CN uses section designations, rarely used anywhere else across the system. This means that the entire symbol is relevant for many of these trains. Thanks to some dedicated viewers of the channel, this video series will include the full CN symbols. Recorded in 4K on a Sony A7riv and GoPro Hero 9 Black. Subscribe ‪@orionviii‬ for more videos like this one, including the rest of the series. Use the chapters below to navigate between the trains as follows:

Saturday, February 17, 2024
Mile 55 CN Missabe Sub
0:00 CN U 71781 17 - IC 6253, BLE 904, IC 6252

Mile 48.11 CN Missabe Sub
3:00 CN U 71781 17 - IC 6253, BLE 904, IC 6252

Mile 44 to Mile 43 CN Missabe Sub
4:42 CN U 71781 17 - IC 6253, BLE 904, IC 6252

Mile 42 CN Missabe Sub
6:37 CN U 71781 17 - IC 6253, BLE 904, IC 6252

Sunday, February 18, 2024
Iron Junction West Wye, Mile 63.8 CN Missabe Sub
8:00 CN U 79181 18 - CN 2033, CN 2007, CN 2004

Nugget, Mile 47.8 CN Iron Range Sub
13:21 CN U 79181 18 - CN 2033, CN 2007, CN 2004

Biwabik North, Mile 59.9 CN Iron Range Sub
15:46 CN U 78881 18 - CN 2027, CN 2025, CN 2029

Mile 62.25 CN Missabe Sub
17:40 CN U 73182 18 - CN 3211, CN 3117

Fairlane, Mile 58.8 CN Missabe Sub
19:36 CN U 73182 18 - CN 3211, CN 3117
24:11 CN U 73181 18 - CN 3201, CN 3234
27:54 CN Q 19991 17 - CN 3844, CN 3857, CN 3097

#cnrail #ironore #minnesota #ironrange #dmir #a7riv #goprohero9 #freighttrain

   • CN in Minnesota's Iron Range - Part 1: Pro...  
   • CN in Minnesota's Iron Range - Part 2: Pel...  
   • CN in Minnesota's Iron Range - Part 4: Min...  
   • CN in Minnesota's Iron Range - Part 5: Coo...