I thought on Sunday that I would intercept Norfolk Southern train 287 with the Central of Georgia Heritage unit at the Cuyahoga River Bridge.
While I was waiting, the Sam Laud, an ore boat, was heading upriver to the Mittal Steel mill.
As the Sam Laud was clearing a tugboat with a barge left just as the 287 came through.
The Escanaba, Michigan, iron ore docks will close at the end of April, Canadian National has announced.
It will mark the end of 165 years of ore shipping from the Michigan Upper Peninsula port on Lake Michigan.
Shipments from Escanaba had been slowing since Cleveland-based Cliffs Natural Resources closed its Empire Mine 65 miles north of Escanaba in August 2016.
The Lake Carriers Association said that about 3.5 million tons of ore was shipped from Escanaba in 2015, but CN said no iron ore has moved to the docks since October 2016.
CN said it will keep open its Escanaba yard to serve local rail customers.
Escanaba had been the only iron ore port on Lake Michigan that in recent years has moved raw materials to industries in Chicago, Indiana and other points in the Midwest.
With the ice thinning on the Cuyahoga River during the past week’s meltdown, the ore freights are running again between Whiskey Island and the steel mills up river.
No, it wasn’t a robin, or the crocuses pushing through the earth, but lake freights docking in Cleveland.
Roger and his engineer were spinning their train at the breakwater (Whiskey Island). The river ice has thinned out and the ore shuttles are running again between Whiskey Island and the mill up river.
The tug/barge duo Dorothy Ann and Pathfinder were loading for an afternoon trip to the mill.
Hang in there Northeast Ohio. Spring is coming. To read the captions of the photos below, hover your cursor over the photograph.
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