Erie Mining Dock

[@Stevelikestrains]

Another EXCELLENT!!! classic video by these gentlemen. Thank you.

[@vern8890]

its amazing how those ships dock unassisted. awesome video. thanks.

[@fmnut]

+jeff0401 Yes, most vessels now have at least bow thrusters, and many also have stern thrusters also to enable them to dock without tug assistance.

[@thetrainshop]

5 years later, but, to identify if a boat has bow thrusters, they have a white propeller looking symbol just under the name or aft of the anchors. The Mesabi Miner as pictured in the film didn't have markings, but seeing the motions it made, it clearly was equipped. Columbia Star also was equipped, with no markings.

[@snickpickle]

Man, how I miss the sound of those F units! Since I never really grew up around Alcos, I'm not all that familiar with their sounds, but they certainly are unique! Thanks for this video!

[@karlzwaschka4905]

The engineer must have had some view from the cab of the locomotive. Great videos!

[@LordCarpenter]

Fantastic video. Great historical value.

[@306cuber]

That boat was renamed American Century in 2006

[@b3j8]

You shoulda done some wading while you were filming that Laker. Water was probably what, a balmy 50-55 degrees! LOL Great video thanks!

[@ddblink02]

Was the fly ash going out by boat? Or was it just being dumped at the end of the dock?

[@fmnut]

+Dan Blink The fly ash is generated at the power plant. It used to be dumped right across the highway, but the containment failed in heavy rains and created a mess. So they started hauling the fly ash back to the mine and dumping it there. If you look at the inbound trains they are arriving empty. At the beginning there is also a scene of the dumps being loaded with ash.

[@z-bart4762]

fmnut: The real reason the ash pile slid across the highway was 100% on the MPCA. They had test wells spraying hundreds of thousands of gallons of water on the old ash site to monitor run-off contaminants. The fact that we did have a lot of rain did NOT help.

[@NorthernRailsTrainsInTheNorth]

classic. thanks for sharing

[@nathanvitchner4104]

They use the fly ash in mines to dry up mud holes and wet areas .

[@fmnut]

+Nathan Vitchner Yes, but at LTV it mostly went into the tailings basin.

[@markcinque2910]

man after all the other trains i been on i never seen anything this spectacular.