Forbes, MN: and Eveleth, MN: Fairlane Taconite Plant and United Mine

Taconite: (Satellite)

Mine: (Satellite)

Cliffs [This webpage requires a wide window to view it properly]
"The United Taconite mine is located on Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range in and around the city of Eveleth, Minnesota. The taconite is mined and then transported approximately 10 miles by rail to its processing facility in Forbes, Minnesota. Cleveland-Cliffs owns 100% of the United Taconite mine and leases 100% of the mineral rights. Operations consist of an open-pit truck and shovel mine, where ore is crushed in two stages before traveling by rail to the plant site.  An additional stage of crushing occurs at the plant site before the ore is sent to the concentrator. The concentrator utilizes rod mills and magnetic separation to produce a magnetite concentrate, which is delivered to the pellet plant. From the site, pellets are transported by rail to a ship loading port at Duluth, Minnesota."

Mtnclimberjoe Rail Photography posted

A pair of DMIR Tunnel Motors and an IC SD40-3 slowly ease forward as they pull the last of their train of ore cars through the loader at the Fairlane Taconite Plant in Forbes, Minnesota. Once the loading is finished, the crew will depart southbound to take the loads down to Proctor.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtnclimberjoe50/53511407331

====Info====

1/16/2022

CN Missabe Subdivision

Forbes, MN

CN U71781-16 (Iron Ore Loads; Fairlane Taconite - Forbes, MN to Proctor, MN)

DMIR 408 SD40T-3 Ex. SP 6776 SD45T-2R, SSW 9160 SD45T-2 Blt. 1972

DMIR 400 SD40T-3 Ex. SP 6770 SD45T-2R, SP 9196 SD45T-2 Blt. 1972

IC 6256 SD40-3 Ex. IC 6148 SD40-2, IC 6757, BN 6757 Blt. 1976

James Torgeson shared

Looming in the background of this Canadian National pellet train is the Fairlane Pellet Plant. If that name sounds familiar, it's because this was once owned by the Ford Motor Company and was built to feed the blast furnaces of the Ford Steel Division at the Rouge. The nearby Thunderbird Mine has a similar name of Ford origin. This active facility is currently owned by Cleveland-Cliffs, as is the steel plant at the Rouge.

John Sobaszko: Yet, The Cliffs Rouge Plant now gets all their ore from the Tilden Mine transshipped through Marquette. Interlake always seems to have 1-2 of their 4 smaller ships in turnaround service.

[Cliff labels this plant as United Taconite.]

Mtnclimberjoe Rail Photography shared

The mine:

Satellite

David Schauer posted
A view inside UTAC's Thunderbird North loadout. October 1, 2005 - Eveleth, MN.
JJ Brevard: I see all these new jennies in revenue service now. That said, how much longer are these ones going to be in service?
David Schauer: JJ Brevard The older Missabe veterans will remain in Thunderbird service to replace those that wear out (the coarse taconite is hard on them). Mainline pellet trains will be almost all new cars.
Kent Rengo: And the lack of clearance seen there is why they use idlers on those trains.