Taconite - DM&IR Part 2

Taconite Pellets bound for Two Harbors, Minnesota

Taconite Pellets on DM&IR train at Biwabik, Minnesota

Limestone shipment on the DM&IR, used as flux for the manufacture of taconite pellets.

Spilled taconite pellets almost completely cover the ballast in spots.

If your going to haul heavy cargoes, you need plenty of coupler knuckles.

DM&IR shop crews must be adept at removing pellets from inside the units!

Walking along SP's L.A. Div. West End back in the 70s, I used to see many spilled taconite pellets along the right of way from the Kaiser Eagle Mtn. export ore trains. Those, and plenty of sugar beets. The taconite pellet helped save the Iron Range from economic irrelevance after the high-grade ore played out. There is a large collection of images at the Minnesota Historical Society, linked here. There are precious few good photos of the crushers and rollers at the taconite plants, but here are two small images:

Taconite Rollers from Shenbang Machinery site.

Taconite crushers from SBM Mining and Construction site.