On a unseasonably cold day in northern Minnesota, BNSF 5342 leads a cut of hoppers into the United Taconite property for the loading of pellets. They will then begin the trip to a steel mill in M... (more)

The Griswold signals activate and the engineer blows the horn while a young boy stops and sits to watch the train roll by on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Hibbing, MN.

A BNSF led Virginia, MN / Eagle Pass, TX (commonly referred to as a Tex-Mex) taconite train departs CN Keenan yard with a Ferromex unit as the DPU pushing over 15,000 tons of marbles.

A BNSF taconite train finishes loading in the early morning hours at United Taconite while the fog and clouds roll in making for a dramatic sky just as the sun begins to rise. Once loaded, the cr... (more)

An empty BNSF taconite train rolls east through some Minnesota landscape on a quiet early morning with fog and freezing drizzle covering the area. This train will load at United Taconite and retu... (more)

A little irony here as a taconite train is passing some equipment working on cutting through a pile of scrap steel, BNSF 6327 goes by Hibbing Salvage and a set of working Griswold signals as they... (more)

BNSF 9624 leads the TexMex through Forbes on a blustery morning, and also sports a creative BN nose logo that was added by a railfan crew member.

After rolling through downtown Hibbing, the BNSF 9599 starts to pick up speed as they pass a local Ferrell gas operation on the towns east side. This train will load taconite at United Taconite a... (more)

An All-Rail taconite train heading to load at United Taconite blasts the horn as they cross 13th Ave and one of four pairs of working Griswold signals in downtown Hibbing, MN. The train will load... (more)

The crew aboard BNSF 9215 looks for lights back to Keenan Yard after loading 60 cars of taconite pellets in the early morning hours of a foggy, cold morning at United Taconite. This train will m... (more)

The crew begins to pull and gets under way after traffic on the main has cleared. These freshly made steaming taconite pellets will eventually make their way all the way to Mexico from their origi... (more)

Waiting to depart. Fresh made taconite pellets bound for Mexico steam away on a early cool, crisp morning at the United Taconite facility on Minnesota's Iron Range. The crew (and train) arrived i... (more)

While the van waits, the CN crew prepares to tie down this BNSF all-rail taconite train after they finished loading at United Taconite. A new BNSF crew will take the train and begin the trip to Me... (more)