Empire's Last Stand | Pure Michigan Trains
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- čas přidán 10. 06. 2017
- The end of an era in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, this is Empire's Last Stand, a special presentation by the Thornapple River Rail Series!
While Michiganders thought at first that the Upper Peninsula was a wasteland, history has borne out the “UP” to be loaded with natural resources and natural beauty.
It didn’t take long for mineral extraction to begin, and the forestry industry was likewise quick to make profit of the bountiful woodlands. While both industries are decades off their zenith, the remaining operations are still the lifeblood of the economy for the upper peninsula.
A Negaunee staple since 1963, the Empire Mine has employed countless people over the years, providing good jobs with steady wages, until the plant churned out its last viceroy flux pellet for the steel mills of Indiana on August 4th, 2016. Despite many shutdowns over the years in periods of weak demand, this shutdown will be permanent.
In this edition of Pure Michigan Trains, we’ll follow some of the last iron ore trains to call at Empire, the CN iron ore jennies of U741 and U743, which ceased to operate in October 2016.
Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to share this video, like and subscribe to Thornapple River Rail Series!
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Videography Equipment:
-Primary: Sony HDR-PJ790V HD Camcorder
-Aerial Platform: DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone
-Edited with: Cyberlink PowerDirector 13
People:
-Alex C: Creator, Owner and Producer
-Andrew E: Aerial platform owner and operator
Copyright 2017 Thornapple River Rail Series by Alex Christmas, All Rights Reserved
Blowing me away again! Fantastic work in shooting, researching, editing, and final production to give us such informative videos. So many things in this one that are so neat, but I don't get to see here in Arizona. One thumbs-up and a comment don't seem like enough in return for all that goes into your videos. Much appreciation for your efforts!
Thanks, appreciate the kind remarks, glad I could provide some insights and entertainment!
Thornapple River Rail Series how do you cach the trains
Great shots. Love the commentary. Excellent work. Excellent video as usual.
Great Video!! I use to be a truck driver, so I've been to Marquette and Houghton/ Hancock. The UP is so beautiful and so cool!! I love it.
I bet the lack of any real traffic has got to be nice driving for professional drivers? I like it because it makes it easy to pass slow traffic...like trucks!
I like train videos videos on CZcams 👍
Thank you for the wonderful video! When I was a toddler, I lived in Little Lake. I remember seeing Chicago and Northwestern going through that town. As a Yooper, I miss the miss the Empire Mine CN train! I’m grateful for the Little Lake childhood memories. Your wonderful video added life to my fond memories!!
Thanks for sharing!
Thornapple River Rail Series , My Pleasure!
Thanks for posting this.I'm a former Escanaba resident.Today,I live in Bradenton,Florida.
That's a bit warmer, eh?
Awesome Video Alex! Great great shots and background information, well done.
- Balerio
That was fun! Thanks for all the wonderful information. Cheers, Dan
Another great video, sir. Thanks for taking the time to put it together and sharing it with us!
There is a professonial quality to this video. Good job.
It nice to see Old & NEW CN Locomotives
Excellent work!! Informative, very well done.
Very amazing video, I always love seeing some good Canadian National!
u30c my fav engine... cant explain why... it just is
i know the feeling, iam the same way about the C30-7
LS&I has both! 20+ years of dragging BN coal trains included!
Thornapple River Rail Series seeing one in person is still on my bucket list.
yes i agree almost all the railroads are gone form my area. one thing i did get to see as they were leaving is a close up of a SD45. have a good one thanks for the reply.
KD Daniels well I live in the Netherlands so it's hard for me to even see a freight train. All I see is the local passenger train and high speed train . So as you can imagine I was in heaven during my vacation in Chicago.
Awesome video, truly love the narration and education gained from that. I just discovered your videos and I live less than three miles form the Thornapple River. This is 'just a bit north' of the Thornapple. :-) Keep up the great work!
Indeed, up here in the UP is a bit removed (500 miles in fact) from GRR, but it's all good stuff in this state. Thanks!
Love your videos. Originally from Michigan, now live in the Philippines. Good luck with your studies at Michigan Tech
Thanks!
chrisretusn damn for a while I was planning on going to Michigan tech but ended up going to pennstate instead, would have been nice to meet you in person lol.
Alex, you continuously mention your school work load, are you still in HS or in college? If you are still in HS, I would advise you to apply to Boston University which has a VERY strong communications curriculum. Include this and that great 5 part series with your application and you may wind up with a free college education. I would also contemplate sharing a few of these videos with the Discovery channel and maybe even Mike Rowe, the voice of Deadliest Catch. Just a suggestion from an old timer looking to help a Youngin' out a bit.BTW way, another home run video!
Regards,
Rich
I'm currently attending Michigan Tech for a Civil Engineering Degree. That's why all of a sudden this past year I've been posting Upper Peninsula videos. Majoring in Civil with a Railroad Transportation Minor. This video series is really just an outlet of a passion for railroading, and a great medium to learn, earn back a few bucks spent watching trains, and provide some entertainment to others. Thanks for your appreciation!
Great work! Fantastic videos!
I was just in Escanaba a few months ago and I believe they ripped up most of the ore yard and the dock there.
You can watch the adds in their entirety.
Nice! This is a cool video!
Question, are there trains still going to run to Escanaba from Marquette because of the Tilden mine? So they don't load Tilden ore onto ships at Escanaba?? LS&I via CN still serve the Tilden mine for around another 20 years I've read??
Great Video!
Okay, I figured it out. Tilden loads at the Marquette ore dock. And, they cannot abandon the CN because it is the only line that links the LS&I to the rest of the US rail network. CN and LS&I must run coal to the power plant next to the Marquette ore dock in the winter time, when the ships can't run the coal, because the lake will be frozen.
Ehh, not quite. The CN and its predecessors (CNW, UP, WC) all were the primary haulers of Empire Ore, the LS&I did maybe a few percentage points worth throughout the mine's entire history. Tilden is the reverse, with the CN only hauling limited quantities to Escanaba in order to serve as backup to heavy winter lake icing. So most of Tilden went to the Marquette dock via the LS&I, and most Empire ore went to Escanaba via the CN. Now, open question as to whether the CN will retain the Escanaba dock to even be able to handle Tildens on demand. Coal to Marquette is never handled by rail, freighters handle all of it out of Superior, WI, building up a stockpile for winter...keep in mind, it's only about 2.5 months when the coal plant cannot be serviced, and it is a smaller coal plant.
You are correct in your assertion that the CN main is required to reach the LS&I, along with the Mineral Range and CN's trackage farther to the northwest. Granted, the ELS main from Sidnaw to Nestoria is still in place, technically not abandoned, so there are technically two ways by rail to Marquette still. Either way, this CN line still sees 4 train movements daily, of course down from 8 before these ore trains quit running.
Thank you for the Info. I also forgot about the paper/ lumber industry in L'Anse MI.
The Tilden mine is still open though at least I don't know for how long though.
Tilden Mine has a good 3 decades left assuming today's prices.
Thornapple River Rail Series good to hear
the empire mine has been closed? I had a friend who worked there and we had the tour of the plant.
Where is the new mine they switched to located at?
Michigan's fucking empire fell in 2008
Is there any video of the mine the way it stands now not operating
I have shot some which I will be using at some point later this year. It pretty much looks exactly like it did in this video...nothing has been dismantled or anything of that nature.
Is there no money in it any more? Did the mines play out?
The Empire was played out based on today's current prices and demand.
why do they call IC paint death star?
If you take a look at the Illinois Central logo, the circular disk on the black background was noticed by some to look somewhat like the Death Star, a nickname which has stuck ever since.
thanks very much for your answer. i liked it when IC went to the black and white. thanks for your time, i have so much to learn.
Double edged sword? One might argue it is a plus for the environment, but it is a disaster for the town. One might wonder how the town will survive. Excellent video nevertheless.
This is true. Open-pit mining has huge undisputed environmental impact. The massive tailings ponds are bigger than even the mines, and those "lakes" end up full of heavy metals. Not to mention all of the fuel burned. Underground mining is most certainly more sustainable, but this is how iron ore is buried, and for now, civilization depends on it. I'd much rather know the steel which aids my life was mined in the US or Canada, since we have strict rules regulating these mines, compared to much of the rest of the world. If you look up the Eagle Mine, an underground nickel and copper mine also in the UP, you'll be impressed at the lengths they've gone to great lengths to mine underground as eco-friendly as possible. Having toured their facilities, can I tell you that responsible mining is possible.
Why are you saying pure MI trains and showing CN locos? Why are they using Canadian muscle in MI this is very disappointing?
Canadian National owns a whole bunch of track throughout the United States under their Wicsonsin Central, Illinois Central, Grand Trunk Western, Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range and Bessemer & Lake Erie subsidiaries. As such, they own the most Class I mainline trackage in the state of Michigan, and I think Wisconsin also. The UP of Michigan is dominated by CN, only the LS&I, about half of the ELS, and a dozen miles of the Mineral Range are in the UP and not owned by the CN.
Thornapple River Rail Series do CN still run trains in the UP now?
Oh absolutely. This was a large part of their operations. This line still sees four movements a day, including the U745 seen at the beginning.
Thornapple River Rail Series Thanks for the info. I always wanted to visit the UP to railfan.