DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Railroad Museum has restored a former Erie Mining hi-rail car — a 1957 Pontiac — to service. The Pontiac Chieftain station wagon was put into service in 1957 on Erie Mining Co.’s 74-mile main line between Hoyt Lakes and Taconite Harbor.
The vehicle traveled an estimated 110,000 miles during its 17 years of service. On Aug. 13, 1975, the car was turned over to the museum by Clyde D. Keith, Erie’s Mining’s general manager, who presented the keys to Donald B. Shank, then the museum’s president. Earlier that day the vehicle was driven on rails for the last time from the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway’s Endion Station in Duluth’s East End to the museum in the former Duluth Union Depot. It remained on display in the museum until earlier this year.
In 2019, a team of former Erie employees completed a detailed history of the company titled “Taconite: New Life for Minnesota’s Iron Range – The History of Erie Mining Company.” To further publicize the work, team members and interested friends of Erie came up with the idea of restoring the hi-rail in time to pull a float in the 4th of July parade in Aurora, Minn., (adjacent to Hoyt Lakes) where the book writers would serve as the parade’s Grand Marshal’s.
The car was removed from the museum and sent to Lakehead Constructors Inc. in Superior, Wis., which performed a complete overhaul of the vehicle. Work included rebuilding the engine, installation of a radiator fan (which curiously the vehicle never had), a new gas tank, a new hydraulic pump for the hi-rail system, new brakes and new tires. One of the old tires is being retained for display, since to prevent theft, Erie embossed each tire with the Erie Mining Co. name. When built the car was painted blue or bluish green, but was repainted yellow in the 1960s when Erie switched to yellow for its equipment and retains the yellow color today. The restoration was financed by a major donor and Lakehead Constructors at no charge to the museum.
The car was completed in time to pull the float in Aurora this summer, and was a big hit with crowds. It has yet to ride the rails again, but LSRM Executive Director Ken Buehler says the museum hopes to take the hi-rail out for some spins on the museum’s North Shore Scenic Railroad soon. There is little chance it could ride the old Erie mainline again, since the railroad, while still in place, has been dormant since 2008 and a bridge has been removed in Taconite Harbor. The restored Chieftain is now on display in a place of prominence near the museum entrance.
For more information on the museum go to www.lsrm.org.
I was there on Sunday. Hy-Rail looks great. Depot museum is first rate and well worth visit. By-the-way, I was also in Two Harbors and lady in station/museum there said North Shore Scenic unlikely to run again this year due to unspecified track issues along route from Duluth. Not sure when last tourist train ran but roadbed by Two Harbors station had plenty of weeds and tracks looked like they hadn’t been used in a while.
That big 4 door Pontiac station wagon reminds me of the equally large 1960s vintage, 4 door, black Checker (non-hi-rail but another dept, div. eng., was) station wagon(s) that the E-L Rwy PD had, when I signed on for a ~2 year stint in 1968, before venturing on in RR telecom depts. It was aptly called the “Black Mariah”. lol
How about that!
Nevada Northern Ry. has a 1956 Pontiac Hy-Rail car. It’s not the original but they use it to represent the actual vehicle.
Save Ferris!