A T-Bird pulls up alongside another T-Bird at the United Taconite Fairlane plant with lights to head back to the mine.

As the morning sun rises in Forbes, Minnesota, a trio of EMD's lead empty ore train U716 as it comes off the main and heads into the loop track for loading at the Fairlane Taconite Plant. The Keen... (more)

Catching some of the last rays of sun, DMIR 406 begins to slow down for the left turn into the United Taconite plant with loads from the mine.

Fresh made taconite pellets glide along the CN Missabe sub at Fairlane as they head for Proctor yard. The leader, CN 3331, sports a special logo dating back to the Canadian Northern days.

BLE 903 and two other EMDs lead CN U713 southbound at Sax Road in Forbes, MN.

A short 1 car train heads to United Taconite to dump this car after it was set out and repairs were made to it. Once dumped, it will return to Keenan yard before being returned to the rest of the ... (more)

A winter landscape as a train passes over the frozen river.

Three IC EMD SD40-3s sound nice as they throttle up after having to stop and wait for some traffic up ahead that has now cleared.

It was certainly a surprise to hear about then to actually see three IC "Deathstars" assigned to T-Bird service, albeit briefly, while the new kids on the block the much bigger AC44C6Ms ... (more)

A blue hour departure under snowy skies.

Southbound EMDs with ore cars used for limestone delivery going back to Proctor yard.

IC 6252, 6251 and 6260 slowly roll along, approaching Fairlane with loads from the T-Bird mine in Eveleth. EMD's are rare on T-Bird trains, making a trio of Deathstar SD40-3's that much more of a ... (more)

The famous Illinois Central Deathstar trio exits Main 2 at N Fairlane, slowly making way to the nearby United Taconite Fairlane plant. In charge of another train of raw iron ore, the trio looked a... (more)

A trio of IC "Deathstars" are on temporary T-Bird service while the usual rebuilt AC44C6Ms assigned now to this job receive some service at Proctor shops before returning to reclaim thei... (more)

IC 6252, 6251 and 6260 depart the Fairlane processing plant with ore empties for the Thunderbird mine in Eveleth, MN. All three units still wear the classic Illinois Central "Deathstar" ... (more)