LS&I...Ever heard of it?

Yes, I have heard of it.

 

Lake Superior & Ishpeming did have PS-1 40' Boxcars.

 

Lionel produces PS-1 40' Boxcars, so they could make a factory produced LS&I PS-1 40' Boxcar someday. They made DSS&A, so LS&I could be soon.

 

Andrew

Are they not s big regional ore hauler? Didn't their motive power consist of ALCo rsd15's, then u 25 c's, u30 c's?

I live right in the region. They haul ore pellets to the loading docks.

Matt

Several LS&I 2-8-0's have survived, including Western Maryland Scenic Railroad No. 734 and Grand Canyon Railway No. 18

Nice, Charlie. What is your favorite short line again?

Dave G.

Charlie- Nice box,

Will go well with the layout. Sounds like Jim and you will have to do a joint venture...

The NYC and the LS&I.

The UP, with a lot of mining and railroad history, is an interesting area.

Charlie's stubborn about NYC. RR George and I bought him a NYC wall sign and threaten him to not hang it on the inside of the bathroom door. Our friend and fellow club member is having fun making LS&I things for Charlie.

Nice looking boxcar!

Pentrex had a great video of the LS&I (Along with some other upper Peninsula ore operations) years back.  I have been bugging them to release it on DVD (my VHS version bit the dust).

 

Stuart

 

 

 Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad.   May have been one of the last railroads to use steam locomotives.  Locomotives were good enough, that a couple went to the Grand Canyon Railroad.  Consolidation, 734, used by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, also came from LS & I.   Big, Big Consolidations. IMO.

As far as I know the only production piece ever done in O were the RMT Ore cars that Walter Matuch was nice enough to run.  I took some pictures up in Marquette a few years ago and he produced the cars after I shared the pictures with him.

 

The LS&I ribbed ore cars would have to be scratch-built or be 3D scanned and 3D printed.

 

C&NW and LS&I were the main owners of the rib sided ore cars.

 

Andrew

These little ore buckets sure look good on a layout. The Soo line had a few of them too.

 

 

They were considered a Class One carrier back in the day, when Class One was defined differently.

 

Their diesel power started with RS-1's, RS-2's, and RS-3's, then came the RSD-12's, U-23C's, U-25C's and then the RSD-15's.  Later the U-30's came along.  Now they have mostly late model GE's.  Even with the early adoption of diesels they kept their steam power up to 1963.  Most common were the 2-8-0's - 4 classes in the postwar period.  11 of these still exist, with 3 operational (18, 33, and 34/734).  They also had a few 2-10-2's and I believe a couple of 2-8-2's.  They even had a large Shay for a little while.  

 

My handle here comes from my being a fireman on #23 for 3 years in the 70's, when it was running on a former LS&I branch line (the Marquette and Huron Mountain RR).

 

Besides the RMT ore cars, All Nation made a O scale boxcar kit back in the 50's. They are very rare.

Great videos!  Notice the honorary steam loco action at 7:12 of the first vid and 3:40 on the second vid.  Even the GE chips in.  It's too bad that the model sound systems don't really capture the sounds of hard working Alcos & U boats.

 

BTW, I lived right on the shared trackage in Negaunee for about a year - had LS&I, C&NW, and SOO Line right outside my window. 

Heard of it?  I've ridden on one of their steam engines, now known as Western Maryland Scenic 734.

 

LS&I is using G.E. AC4400s now with the C30-7s and U30Cs on standby.

#33 survives as well.

 

http://www.ageofsteamroundhouse.com/loco33.html

The remaining LS&I steam locos:  18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29, 33, 34, 35

Nice job!  My plan for next years NMRRC club car was to do this one and the black diamond version as a set.  Unfortunately Weaver's demise has put the kibosh on that!

 

Charlie, where is your alligator?

Wow, that's a lot of smoke. Are those steamers???

Alco RSD12's.

 

Rusty

My guess is 18,19,20, 21, and 29 to the Grand Canyon Railroad.  

#34 becomes Western Maryland Scenic RR 734.

???? and the rest ??? 

#35 is at IRM.

And #34 is now Western Maryland Scenic 734.

 

Rusty

John, I'll have to get a pic of it for you on the layout.

18, 19, 20, and 29 went to GCR.  Only 29 remains there.  18 is in Colorado. 19 went to Las Vegas, but I'm not sure of its current whereabouts.  I think 20 is in Texas painted up as a Frisco engine - but not sure.  21 is in Wisconsin & privately owned.  22 is at Mid-Continent, 23 is in NY state - last at the Empire State museum in pieces.  24 is at the National RR museum in Green Bay, WI.  As mentioned earlier, 33 is at the Age of Steam roundhouse and 35 is at the Illinois Railroad Museum.  

There's a RSD-15 and a U-boat in the mix - the U-boat tries to imitate the ALCO's.  In one shot the RSD-15 is even puffing & chuffing!

#29 on display at the Grand Canyon South Rim village.  Alco boiler plate indicates manufactured Pittsburgh, PA.

Boiler Plate

 

 

When I was a little kid they used to have a little afternoon style excursion. I rode it a few times with my parents. It departed from just under and to the north of the ore docks. Went out in the woods a ways, then came back. The depot etc are all still there and in nice shape. It was a steam engine and I believe it is the one that is now in the IRM. 

 

I take my kids to watch the ore cars unload into the holding docks and watch the big freighters load up. 

 

There is a neat youtube:    LS&I Railroad: Marquette Ore Docks

Check it out. Neat video taken this fall with a drone overhead of the ore docks and the rail lines themselves. He narrates it and it is very informative about the history of LS&I.  I live just a short way from Marquette and see them all the time. My father worked at the Tilden and Empire mines where they haul from.

 

Matt

How's this for timing? Check out what Morning Sun has announced for release next month:

 

http://morningsunbooks.com/col...ad-in-color-volume-1 

 

Here is a video of the ore dock. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5qdWIUrtBc

 

 

I have to keep the trains and boats together. 

Hi Matt, that is the one that I used to work on.  There were two trips a day - a morning breakfast run and an afternoon trip.  It went 11 miles out of town, to Harlow Lake.  It last ran in 1982.  The engine used from 1972 to the end was #23, which is now in upstate NY - in disassembled condition.  #35 is the one at the IRM, and it never operated after 1960.  The depot is indeed still there, along with two derelict passenger cars. d Everything else is gone.

Well that's a bummer that it is in pieces. Is it"scrapped" or awaiting restoration? I was certain it was in Illinois. Our old pictures and the postcard from it show it in nice condition.

Matt

Waiting a looonnngg time for restoration.  They don't have the money.

Would you want the Menard's people to make new ribbed C&NW, SOO LINE, and LS&I ribbed ore cars?

 

Andrew

Well of course the LS&I Andrew.

Here are a couple of pictures of a 2 rail version LS&I boxcar I was fortunate enough to purchase during  the last days of the  Lewis Ertz West Tennessee Central Railroad.

 

 

 

Richard Gonzales