#aerialbridge

[railwayhistorical]

Joseph L. Block Arrives Duluth

This ship was built in 1976 and is 728 feet in length. I believe it has come to Duluth with a load of limestone to be discharged at Hallett Dock Number 5.

Three images by Richard Koenig; taken July 23rd 2017.

[railwayhistorical]

Frontenac

This ship is seen moving toward the Aerial Bridge, Duluth, on a warm and muggy day in the Northland. This Canadian ship is 730 feet long and was first launched in December of 1967—making it nearly fifty years old.

One photograph by Richard Koenig; taken July 20th 2017.

[railwayhistorical]

The Frontenac Arrives Duluth

This ship is a classic “laker” design (having the bridge on the bow rather than astern) and is nearly fifty years old (built in 1968). The Frontenac (Canada) has arrived at Duluth to pick up taconite pellets that are likely destined for steel mills in northern Indiana. It is headed through the Duluth entry canal and will soon pass under the iconic Aerial Bridge.

The spring can be quite foggy near the lake as the surrounding hills warm but the lake retains its cool temperature. These five images were made by Richard Koenig in the late morning of April 16th 2017.

[railwayhistorical]

Duluth Ore Run—Part Two

Here we see the Canadian National transfer job complete the ore dock run of yesterday’s blog entry. In the first image, the train has been reconstituted after having been shifted about upon the massive ore dock on St. Louis Bay. It will momentarily head up the 2.2 percent grade of the former Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway. We can see the John A. Blatnik Bridge, along with the dock itself, in the background of the image.

In pictures two and three, the train has made it most way of the hill. We can see the iconic Aerial Bridge in the first of these photographs. In the second we can see both the Bong Bridge (Highway 2) as well as Northern Pacific’s Grassy Point Draw Bridge. This “draw” bridge was replaced with a swing-type bridge at some point but retains its original name. Interestingly, we can see that the bridge has been swung for ship traffic in this picture.

In the final picture we see the train rounding a curve near the top of the hill with an oil refinery, way out in Superior, Wisconsin, in the background.

The map shows the where the photographs were taken. Four images by Richard Koenig; taken April 17th 2017.