After spending the week researching the historic Mineral Range at the Tech archives and the heavy snow wreaking havoc with my field mapping I decided to head down to try to catch the modern Mineral Range with my dad. I’ve wanted to see this new operation knowing how fleeting these mining operations can be but didn’t know if I would have a chance on this trip.



Pulling into L’Anse the turn is tied up at the site of the former depot:



The train consisted of 5646-5633, 6 empty pulp cars, 20 cars of ties for the power plant, and one box. I noticed three covered hopper for Celotex in the lower pulp yard. We decided to hang around a while to get a few shots of the turn. Later in the morning the power runs light to the upper pulp yard:



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And the turn switches the New Page fiber yard on Mead Road:

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After watching them switch for a while we headed onto the Humboldt Mill to see if the Mineral Range was running. At Koski Corners (US41 crossing) it looked like something had been recently through. At the mill what looked like an old Pettibone was plowing the line around the mill and there was a Trackmobile inside the mill. Not seeing any motive power at the mill and figuring with the plowing something may be running we decide to head into Ishpeming to see if the power was there. At the Ishpeming yard we didn’t see any Mineral Range power but there was a mobile bulk transfer facility there with two covered hoppers—didn’t recall seeing this there before. After coming up empty we head out to Diorite on a chance the turn is on the way to the mill and bingo—we catch site of light locomotive leaving town so we had back to Koski Corners to catch it crossing US41:



We then want to catch the turn at the mill; here the turn has just passed what would have been historically the junction with the LS&I main to Republic and the branch into the second Humboldt mine:



At the CR601 crossing and into the mill complex:





After switching the mill for about an hour and a half the turn pulls out with 15 loads or about $1.5 million in concentrate:



One of the concentrate cars:



On the way to Forest Highway 16 to look at some logging grades north of Frost we pass the plow at Michigamme:



Cheers,
Mark