GLADSTONE, MICHIGAN

Railroads run on parallel ribbons of steel, but the miracle iron and carbon combination which makes up much of our modern world would not be possible without the raw materials making it to the mill.

The Lake Superior region of the Great Lakes is home to some of the most productive iron ore deposits in the world. The Missabe and Marquette Iron Ranges combine for the vast majority of US iron ore production, and almost all of it rides to Lake Superior by rail and then hits the water for transport by the majestic ships which sail on the great inland seas.

At Sault Ste Marie, the Algoma Steel Mill is located right at the heart of the iron ore shipping trade, just up the St Mary’s River from the Soo Locks, through which the iron ore boats pass down from Lake Superior towards the lower lake mills. Yet the Algoma Mill receives much of its ore by the all-rail route: ore that never floats.

Originating at the Cleveland-Cliffs Tilden Mine in the Marquette Range, Canadian National teams with the Lake Superior and Ishpeming to furnish 45 to 70 iron ore hoppers daily year-round, while the lake freighters are forced to lay up for winter.

The 155-mile haul, as the crow flies, takes the ore on a ride with four different trains, in a continual round-the-clock railroad ore conveyor belt we examine in this edition of Pure Michigan Trains, presented by the Thornapple River Rail Series.

Curious about how the railroads in this video are laid out on the map? Check out my Google Map Overlay of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Railroads, via this link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GeS...

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Videography Equipment:
- Primary: Sony FDR-AX53 4K Camcorder
- Secondary: Sony HDR-PJ790V HD Camcorder
- Aerial Platform: DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone
- Radio Scanner: Uniden Bearcat BC125AT
- Edited with: Cyberlink PowerDirector 16

Created by Alex Christmas. Copyright 2019, as the Thornapple River Rail Series, All Rights Reserved