Wisconsin Central 598 and Duluth, Missabe, & Iron Range 170 at Sault Ste. Marie, June, 1992. 170 is a perfectly typical Missabe SD-9, acquired by the railroad in 1959 and sold off-line in 1998.
Fallen flag, falling flag. This photo was taken a few hundred yards from the Soo Locks and was the next I took after the Kinsman series; this is at Wisconsin Central's staging yard for building trains to cross the Saint Mary's River on the long railroad bridge. The DMIR's a physically compact system at the distant end of Lake Superior; this loco was a long way from Minnesota's Arrowhead region. At the time, WC was a new railway, and hadn't completed repainting the equipment it had inherited from the Soo Line--thus the box car in the background.
A decade later, the Canadian National Railway has absorbed the Wisconsin Central, and is in the process of absorbing the Missabe. A sad time for Missabe's fans--a group which includes me. Sadder still for Missabe's employees in Duluth and Proctor....
Tags: soo missabe dmir wisconsin central railroad locomotives soo line sault ste. marie upperpeninsula 1-5-fav michiganfavorites wc joeldinda
This steel trestle--locally known as the High Bridge--was built in 1887 1904 by predecessors of the Pere Marquette Railway Company to get the road's main line across the Grand River at Grand Ledge. This route nominally connects Detroit and Chicago, by way of Lansing and Grand Rapids. The PM was absorbed by the Chessie system about the time I was born, and the track is now owned by C&O successor CSX. These days the Soo Line (Canadian Pacific) also runs long trains on this track--they deserted Sault Ste. Marie a decade and a half ago.
Sometimes I can't look at a bridge without putting things into historical context....
This photo was taken from Second Island in Grand Ledge on April 12, 2003.
Tags: bridges grand ledge railroad grand river river c50 joeldinda
A new Ford Mustang convertible waits for a train to arrive at CN's Billwood Highway railroad crossing a short distance from where I work. I was returning to work after a lunchtime errand and couldn't resist shooting his pony from my pony. Cute car.
The crossing's a short distance from work; I can see this rail line (though not the crossing) from my desk. Interstate 69 crosses both Billwood and the railroad at this point; thus the structure framing the top of the picture.
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Two bridges named "International"--the high bridge carries the highway across the rapids at Sault Ste. Marie, while the low bridge carries the railroad. (I've mentioned this before.)
Taken from the Soo Locks Tour Boat. The weather, as you can see, was terrific.
Tags: bridges international bridge soo sault sault ste. marie c50 greatlakes upperpeninsula blue joeldinda
This picture was shot a mile or so from my workplace. The train's creeping along on the long siding by Lake Interstate (an artifact of the construction of I-69, friends) and will halt before it gets to the crossing. Presumably there was a train coming the other way.
I kinda like the blackbird atop the sign....
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