Recent content by rcwarner1953

The Awesome EMD SD9 type engine I just uploaded corrections to engine definitions “GLIO SD7 or SD9 no Dyn Brake” and “GLIO SD7 or SD9 with Dyn Brake” to the DLS. Working with these engines brought back memories of how awesome the pulling/stopping power of these engines were. The Great Northern...

Morning on the GLIO - Great Lake and Iron Ore

GLIO Maintenance of Way – MOW In my opinion, the hardest job on the railroad, in the GLIO era, was the section laborer. Also known as gandy dancers. They were also the lowest paid. Almost all track work was done by hand. Most of the expensive hy rail equipment you see now days did not exist...

May be there are a half dozen members interested in viewing the GLIO route that is “work in progress”. Also, perhaps they are interested in reading my comments, via a blog, on how I add to the route. If I was to upload WIP and start a blog, I would be really interested if members had comments...

Trainz22 Plus

I have started to work on an extension to the route “GLIO Great Lakes Iron Ore Route”. The plan is to add about 70 miles. Coming out of the station Kelly Lake is where the extension will start. The vision is to first climb out of the lake basin for about 10 miles. Second, cross the watershed...

GLIO Iron Ore Granger Railroads? If you have downloaded the sessions for the GLIO route, at the station Gunn, there is a grain elevator. Loading out are several boxcars. Perhaps some of you think they should be jumbo cover hoppers. That may be accurate for this century but was not so for most...

GLIO Roundhouses, Part 2 Roundhouses complexes generally had facilities for rolling stock maintenance and repair. In the eras the GLIO route was constructed for, all cars brought into a major yard would be inspected by carmen. They would be looking for damage to grab irons, ladders, doors and...

Happy Labor Day - as a union member it meant double time and a half if worked.

GLIO Roundhouses, Part 1 The signs of autumn are present. The first hints of color on stressed Maples are there. The flocks of darting nighthawks on their way to South America, for some reason, always makes thoughtful about the cycles of life and death. Enough melancholy. Roundhouses in the...

Tower Soudan Mine Tours & other It is summer here and as I look out my window, I see a mother deer with a week-old fawn. It is a busy time of year so I have not updated the blog. My next major update will be on “roundhouses and activity therein”, probably closer to fall. But for now, tours of...

Hot Boxes I have been holding off on adding to the blog. I like to post pictures with the topic being discussed. I do so via the Picture Gallery, which has not been working since April 20th. There has been no announced fix. Below is link is a link with pictures and discussion. If you have run...

Ore Dock and Yard Operations, Part 2 Per part 1, I will continue to use the Great Northern’s operation at Allouez as example of all ore dock operations. *** Note*** currently Trainz gallery is not accepting pictures, forced to use the links below. The switch crews have switched out the...

By 1975, processed taconite pellets had mostly replaced the depleted raw iron ore. Dock 1, far left on the picture above, had its railroad tracks replaced by a conveyor belt unloader combination on its left side. The conveyer belt carried taconite pellets from stock piles to the south. Dock 1...

Ore Dock and Yard Operations, Part 1 The railroad operations at the mine collection yards were simple. The mines called the railroads and ordered empties. A mine job would deliver the empties and then pull any loads. Each car was tagged by the mine with ownership and other information needed by...