In early 2001 LTV Mining shut down the taconite plant at Hoyt Lakes, MN. In 2004 Cliffs Erie hired a contractor to claim leftover chips and pellets from the mine due to the high iron prices. So, on October 9, 2004 I joined my buddy Eric Hendrickson to get some "final" shots of the revered F-units used to pull the ore trains between Hoyt Lakes and Taconite Harbor. As we figured we ran into several other fans from the Twin Cities up here doing the same thing. We first went to Skibo Road and waited...and waited...until we heard what we thought was the train. With fingers on the shutters, along comes the crane seen in this first photo. It stopped and the operator told us they had a problem at the mines and there would be no train that day but it would run the next day. so off we went to shoot the DMIR for the balance of that day.

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The following day, we all returned to Skibo Road to wait for the southbound train. Finally, we heard the roar of the 567 engines, and alas we saw the headlight. LTV ore loads led by F9A 4211-F9B 4225-4223-4224 and 55 cars came by us at Skibo Road south of Hoyt Lakes, MN on October 10, 2004.

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The chase was on! And a hair-raising chase it was, 70 mph on dirt roads, hoping and praying some deer or a moose didn't wander out in front of us. We finally made it out to the paved highway and next caught LTV ore loads with engines F9A 4211-F9B 4225-4223-4224 and 55 cars at Cramer Road north of Taconite Harbor, MN on October 10, 2004.

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We then headed down to shoot the train before it got down to the docks to unload. Here, LTV ore loads with engines F9A 4211-F9B 4225-4223-4224 and 55 cars arriving Taconite Harbor, MN on October 10, 2004.

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The final shot of the train sees LTV ore loads with engines F9A 4211-F9B 4225-4223-4224 and 55 cars arriving Taconite Harbor, MN with Lake Superior in the background on October 10, 2004.

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