One of the best done railroad videos around! Loved the history and explanations. Just pure and great railroading with awesome scenery and no awful music to ruin an absolutely great piece of video work. Huge Kudos!
Great job! You made it up to my home town, the Soo! Very familiar with the areas shown in the last minutes of this video. It used to be much easier taking pictures by the bridges before 9/11 with all that security fencing, and border patrol officers watching each train. I have heard that distinctive sound of the lift bridge motor starting up hundreds of times. :-) (55:05 in the video). Thanks! I learned a lot about the rest of the line from your videos.
I made sure to follow on Google Earth. I appreciate the history that you provide at some of the locations. Excellent video Alex. It was a pleasure to watch.
Nice vid, I wondered how much use those rr lines across the UP got. I guess the weight restrictions across the SOO bridge preclude the use of ore jennies. It would seem some of the newer aluminum hoppers would help out in carrying more weight of cargo. Maybe they would not stand up to the wear and tear of taconite pellets compared to softer coal. That bridge span in Rudyard and some of the spans on the SOO bridge are in need of some surface maint and paint. It seems if you really wanted them to last you would keep up on that, like they do on the Mackinaw bridge. I wonder what load factors were built into the original SOO bridge. Some of those steam locos back in the day were quite heavy, although they were not running 286k gross wt cars. Makes me think of what it would cost to construct that line in today's money through all that virgin wilderness and building those bridges. Ouch!!
Indeed, aluminum would be literally shredded by much harder iron ore pellets. They can get away with it with much softer coal, but not iron. Go look at photos of coal train wrecks - the aluminum gets hilariously shredded. None of the bridges need paint. When it comes to keeping steel, you either need to paint it fairly often or never. Flaking paint keeps in moisture. Once it gets to that rust state, it is better to let the rust protect the structure, rather than risk sandblasting - which would remove quite a bit of metal. Today railroads don't even bother painting steel bridges when installing them, they are just built with the margins to handle surface rust, just like the rails.
It's still weird seeing B&LE cars that far from Conneaut, Ohio and their "traditional " home. Granted the cars are still doing exactly what they are designed for.
I'm surprised a line like this only sees a couple trains a day, you'd think the iron ore production in Sault Saint Marie would be more than it is.. It just shows you how Chinese steel has ruined a very important part of the Great Lakes region.
The cn track was originally owned by algoma central then when they were bought by Wisconsin central the trackage rights went to them then Canadian national bought out the wc
Yup, I mentioned in the first few scenes that the first four and last four hoppers are buffers, for the bridge in Sault Ste Marie. The middle two bays are filled with gravel so they aren't too light so as to cause handling problems.
I show your station to my brother who works on the train and he said certain things but i'm like so what it very good it doesn't mean anything to him anyway good infomation
Yet another stunning TRRS story - if weight is a sensitive matter, would not a road slug combo work instead of DPU, albeit at the cost of some speed? Or would that leave too little grunt for the climbs?
Indeed, they really need two units in a couple of places. Road slugs wouldn't really be any lighter, either, since both mother and slug typically weigh similar to a normal locomotive, because the weight is necessary for traction.
Good video. Neat to see some video from areas I’m familiar with. I’d like to mention tho that the “-christ” in Gilchrist rhymes with fist. You mention it being springtime when you show the train coming thru Kinross. Was this recorded during a previous year? I believe the track from the Soo to Rudyard has all be upgraded with continuous rail. They were changing some of it in the Rudyard area this winter. I believe they are going to replace all the jointed rail on this line.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries I haven’t had a chance to look at the line in Kinross, but I ran across a guy in a CN hirailer a couple months ago and he said they had pretty much upgraded everything from the Soo to Rudyard. They were apparently working thru the winter. I can confirm that the line between Kinross and Rudyard is now ribbon rail at every place I was able to see. I’m definitely happy to see this. I used to live in Rudyard, back in the WC era and when the old station building still stood, and I remember watching the cars swaying from side to side as the rails bounced at the joints. It’s neat to see how steady they are with the new rail!
So the "all-rail" means that the ore is not ever shipped by water or any other means - it travels from the mine to the mill only by rail. This contrasts with typical iron ore routing which takes the ore from the mine to the Great Lakes via rail, and then is floated to the mill by water.
In the mix, I spotted two cars with the Chicago and Northwestern logo. It’s nice to catch such cars moving!!
Wow, those drone shots and under carriage shots are totally awesome!
Beautiful video very informative. With very stunning shots and awesome drone footage of the line.
This is how such videos should be,nice work.
One of the best done railroad videos around! Loved the history and explanations. Just pure and great railroading with awesome scenery and no awful music to ruin an absolutely great piece of video work. Huge Kudos!
Outstanding, as expected, everything is done with great narration, drone and aerial views, and again, stellar!! THanks again Alex!!!
Indeed! Masterfully done and narrated. Thank you. 2022/02/07. Ontario, Canada.
Thanx alot for posting.I'm an Ex UP Resident (Originally Escanaba),Today,I live in Bradenton,Florida.
I truly enjoy your films. The narration makes a world of difference from other fly by night productions.
Great job! You made it up to my home town, the Soo! Very familiar with the areas shown in the last minutes of this video. It used to be much easier taking pictures by the bridges before 9/11 with all that security fencing, and border patrol officers watching each train. I have heard that distinctive sound of the lift bridge motor starting up hundreds of times. :-) (55:05 in the video). Thanks! I learned a lot about the rest of the line from your videos.
I made sure to follow on Google Earth. I appreciate the history that you provide at some of the locations. Excellent video Alex. It was a pleasure to watch.
Great catches, shots, lashups, & video! Well done.
Nice vid, I wondered how much use those rr lines across the UP got. I guess the weight restrictions across the SOO bridge preclude the use of ore jennies. It would seem some of the newer aluminum hoppers would help out in carrying more weight of cargo. Maybe they would not stand up to the wear and tear of taconite pellets compared to softer coal. That bridge span in Rudyard and some of the spans on the SOO bridge are in need of some surface maint and paint. It seems if you really wanted them to last you would keep up on that, like they do on the Mackinaw bridge.
I wonder what load factors were built into the original SOO bridge. Some of those steam locos back in the day were quite heavy, although they were not running 286k gross wt cars. Makes me think of what it would cost to construct that line in today's money through all that virgin wilderness and building those bridges. Ouch!!
Indeed, aluminum would be literally shredded by much harder iron ore pellets. They can get away with it with much softer coal, but not iron. Go look at photos of coal train wrecks - the aluminum gets hilariously shredded.
None of the bridges need paint. When it comes to keeping steel, you either need to paint it fairly often or never. Flaking paint keeps in moisture. Once it gets to that rust state, it is better to let the rust protect the structure, rather than risk sandblasting - which would remove quite a bit of metal. Today railroads don't even bother painting steel bridges when installing them, they are just built with the margins to handle surface rust, just like the rails.
Wow those old CNW hoppers are awesome!
Awesome video! Love the cool shots
Great video.. thanks
Excellent Video
Another awesome video!!!
Awesome video once again enjoyed watching.
One time, I seen a BC Rail SD40-2 in 2014. I made a video of it, but my camera got lost.
Great video
Top notch presentation Alex!
It's still weird seeing B&LE cars that far from Conneaut, Ohio and their "traditional " home. Granted the cars are still doing exactly what they are designed for.
Great video.....certainly one of my new favorite channel.....!
Another great video!
How did the CN engine change to a BNSF and back again? The "magic of railroading"?
This video was shot over 3 years and includes about a dozen different iterations of the train, spliced together in location order.
Nice 🙏👍
Love the drone footage !!!!!
Wow!!! Amazing
In think you caught the engineer vaping at 38:39.
conductor side, also no need to be a snitch
I'm surprised a line like this only sees a couple trains a day, you'd think the iron ore production in Sault Saint Marie would be more than it is.. It just shows you how Chinese steel has ruined a very important part of the Great Lakes region.
Quick! Somebody call the management of that company vehicle and tell them that their employees are illegally crossing the tracks.
The cn track was originally owned by algoma central then when they were bought by Wisconsin central the trackage rights went to them then Canadian national bought out the wc
None of the trackage in this film was Algoma Central - they only owned stuff in Canada. What’s discussed in the video is correct.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries ok so then that’s a different line
Correct. The AC goes north from Sault Ste Marie Canada.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries I don’t really know much about the the line the ac ran on but I know it’s in that area
I noticed that the first four hoppers have concrete slates at the bottom... are they buffer cars? Nice video as always!
Yup, I mentioned in the first few scenes that the first four and last four hoppers are buffers, for the bridge in Sault Ste Marie. The middle two bays are filled with gravel so they aren't too light so as to cause handling problems.
Thank you. I'll rewatch the first scenes and pay more attention this time.
I show your station to my brother who works on the train and he said certain things but i'm like so what it very good it doesn't mean anything to him anyway good infomation
WTF are you talking about?
What camera was this filmed with? Great video!
Equipment details in the description
los lugarteniente es muy lindó
What train did you see in April 2019?
Yet another stunning TRRS story - if weight is a sensitive matter, would not a road slug combo work instead of DPU, albeit at the cost of some speed? Or would that leave too little grunt for the climbs?
Indeed, they really need two units in a couple of places. Road slugs wouldn't really be any lighter, either, since both mother and slug typically weigh similar to a normal locomotive, because the weight is necessary for traction.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries fair enough, a casual glance into the hoppers suggests that iron ore is a relatively dense mineral
Very nicely produced and interesting. Could have less whistle and more locomotive noise to be even better
I may have missed it, but where did the coil cars come from?
The steel coil cars are empties heading for the steel mill in Canada, same place as where the ore is going
Good video. Neat to see some video from areas I’m familiar with. I’d like to mention tho that the “-christ” in Gilchrist rhymes with fist.
You mention it being springtime when you show the train coming thru Kinross. Was this recorded during a previous year? I believe the track from the Soo to Rudyard has all be upgraded with continuous rail. They were changing some of it in the Rudyard area this winter. I believe they are going to replace all the jointed rail on this line.
Kinross was shot in spring of 2018 - good news if they've continued to lay out CWR over there!
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries I haven’t had a chance to look at the line in Kinross, but I ran across a guy in a CN hirailer a couple months ago and he said they had pretty much upgraded everything from the Soo to Rudyard. They were apparently working thru the winter. I can confirm that the line between Kinross and Rudyard is now ribbon rail at every place I was able to see. I’m definitely happy to see this. I used to live in Rudyard, back in the WC era and when the old station building still stood, and I remember watching the cars swaying from side to side as the rails bounced at the joints. It’s neat to see how steady they are with the new rail!
No Thermite Welding To Repair The Broken Track it’s More Permanent 👨🏼🔧🧰👨🏼🔧
I'm sure they went back to shoot thermite later, they just wanted to keep L551 from being overly delayed at the time.
Thornapple River Rail Series 👍🏼
did anyone else notice the BNSF motive power at 8:46, what's that about?
Regeneration TRAINS
So, I'm curious seeing a BNSF unit up in the UP. Is it just transient or does BNSF have a real presence in the great frozen Peninsula? Thanks
Transient via horsepower hour agreement
Then again, 65 yr old eyes do not help.
what is a non rail iron ore train?
So the "all-rail" means that the ore is not ever shipped by water or any other means - it travels from the mine to the mill only by rail. This contrasts with typical iron ore routing which takes the ore from the mine to the Great Lakes via rail, and then is floated to the mill by water.
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries A non rail iron ore train doesn't exist
Of course. Were you trying to make a joke?
@@ThornappleRiverRailSeries I thought I was stating the obvious
Ahh...yup that flew by me, I thought you were simply confused about the all-rail ore terminology.
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