Empire Mine, near Palmer, was in operation starting in 1964 but shut down in August 2016. The Empire is 1 mile across and 1,200 feet deep. 3 million to 4.4 million tons of iron pellets were produc... (more)

31 years ago........LS&I 3006 brings a loaded ore train thru Palmer, MI at the end of a beautiful day in July of 1990. Fast forward to today and some of these units are attracting considerable att... (more)

A Lake Superior & Ishpeming ore run rolls a string of loads through Palmer Jct. as it heads from Tilden Mine back to Eagle Mills Yard. Later the cars will be handled down the grade to the ore dock... (more)

BNSF 8204 leads a Canadian National empty all rail ore train out of their small yard at Partridge, MI, heading to the Lake Superior & Ishpeming yard a few miles away at Eagle Mills. LS&I will hand... (more)

CEFX 1005 rolls an empty ore train past the loading area of Empire Mine at Palmer, MI. The train will head past the closed facility to load at Tilden Mine, a couple miles further down the track.

EMDX 1606 has delivered its cars to the LS&I and returned to Partridge to yank its train of all rail ore south to Gladstone.

CEFX 1012 leads a Lake Superior & Ishpeming mine run through Palmer Junction after leaving Tilden Mine. The train is returning to Eagle Mills, MI where it will later head about 10 miles east to th... (more)

An lS&I mine run rolls an all rail ore train out of Tilden Mine at Palmer Junction where it is now headed to Partridge and interchange with Canadian National. This train runs to Gladstone, MI, the... (more)

LS&I U30C nos. 3000 and 3009 pull a trainload of ore headed for their dock out of Tilden Mine at Empire Jct. between Palmer and Eagle Mills, MI. No. 3000 was built in April 1974 as BN 5931, and li... (more)

CEFX 1012 has an LS&I trainload of dock ore on the move at Empire Jct. near Palmer, MI. The train is being handled by one of the morning crews returning from Tilden Mine to Eagle Mills. Later a do... (more)

Looking like somewhere on Stevens Pass in Washington state, BNSF 8204 cuts through trees and rocks in rainy weather at Palmer Jct. in upper Michigan. The train is a CN train from Gladstone, MI whi... (more)

The second morning crew followed the first crew to Tilden Mine with another ore train for loading. This crew used a pair of CEFX GEs and is shown rolling by the presently closed Empire Mine en rou... (more)

LS&I 1852 has just departed the Tilden mine and is skirting the south side of the Empire Mine as it makes its way towards Eagle Mills in June of 1988. Only the Tilden mine operates now as Empire h... (more)

What is normally a open and amazing shot of Goose Lake is filled with a very thick fog at sunrise but as the sound of EMD's echoed through the valley, a section of fog cleared in time so that a ph... (more)

The end iron ore pellet production at the Empire mine occurred today (August 3, 2016). Once the cornerstone of C&NW's Marquette Range iron ore franchise, Empire has reached the end of its economic... (more)