Ely Ore Train, 1953 (13x9 in.) $45.00, (24.5x18.5 in.) unframed original available, $6000.00
Just up from Two Harbors, MN is D.M.&I.R. (Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range) Railway Mallet No.223 and it’s coal tender delivering 100 empty ore cars to the Pioneer Mine in Ely, MN. It is the first train of the new shipping season in the spring of 1952 as witnessed by the vast crude ore stock pile, accumulated over the past winter and just over the top of the train, at times massing to 250,000 tons. Just beyond the stock piles is the B Shaft head frame of U.S. Steel’s Pioneer Mine, operated by Oliver Iron Mining Co. The brakeman is shown here dismounting 223, preparing to walk up to a small hill near the vantage point illustrated here, in the proximity of the Oliver office and flag signals to the engineer when the empty cars are all on the loading track. 223 will continue eastward until the signal is given, then disconnect from the empty cars near the next mine, the Zenith Mine operated by Pickands-Mather & Co.
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