On a otherwise quiet and tranquil late winter afternoon, NSM 653 breaks that quiet and tranquility momentarily as it and two other SD40-3's chase the sun to the horizon working up hill out of the Lake Superior basin while heading inland with the empties from Silver Bay, MN back to the mine at Babbitt, MN some 40 miles away. Word came this past week from Cliffs Natural Resources that it is going to idle a second taconite plant, Northshore Mining. The idle is going to take place by December 1st, and is scheduled to last through the first quarter of 2016. About 540 people work at Northshore Mining.
