The three B units, Nos. 4223, 4224, and 4225, were scrapped earlier this month at the former Erie Mining plant site in Hoyt Lakes. According to Erie Mining historian and long-time employee Doug Buell, their prime movers, generators, and most of their trucks were shipped out of the plant by flatbed truck, while any remaining scrap from the units is being cut up and will be shipped off for recycling. The units were last used in 2008 by Cliffs Erie Mining, which purchased the assets of LTV Steel Mining in 2002.
Erie Mining Co. purchased 11 F9s – five A units and six B units – to haul taconite pellets from its mine and plant at Hoyt Lakes over a 72-mile private railroad to its ore dock on the North Shore of Lake Superior at Taconite Harbor. Operations began in 1957, and the fleet of F9s remained intact even after LTV Steel acquired Erie Mining in 1986. Four F9s, two A units and two B units, were destroyed in a runaway derailment at Taconite Harbor in January 1997. LTV shuttered the taconite plant in 2001.
There followed two revivals of the railroad. In 2004 Cliffs Erie hired a contractor to claim leftover chips and pellets from the mine due to the high iron prices, and used the Fs to move them to Taconite Harbor. In 2008, No. 4210 and the three B units were used to haul cars of pellet remains and fines from Taconite Harbor to Hoyt Lakes where it was shipped out by rail. The units had been stored at Hoyt Lakes ever since. F9A Nos. 4210 and 4214 remain intact at Hoyt Lakes, while former F9A No. 4211 and F9B 4222 have been preserved by the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth.
The two Minnesota Zephyr units are No. 787, built in 1953 as Spokane, Portland & Seattle No. 804, later Burlington Northern Nos. 9756 and 716, and No. 788, ex-Chicago & Northern Western No. 4082A, then No. 410, built in 1949. The units were last used in December 2008 when the dinner train made its last run. Its six-mile route has since been converted to a trail.
I can personally assure everyone that the two F9A units are coming to a very good home.
They will be mechanically and cosmetically restored. Then pampered!
We can't wait to get started on them.
Unless those B units were seriously compromised, it's hard to believe they were worth more as scrap metal than as intact locomotives given the eagerness with which many museums and even a few Class 1 and Class 2 freight railroads have sought after F-units for rehabilitation or parts. Looks like the moral of the story continues to be that if somebody wants this kind of stuff intact, they have to get their ducks in a row and have their wallets at the ready *before* the scrapper is called in.
its too bad the b units were scraped but its good the a units were saved.
Illinois Railway Museum could have used one or more of those Bs for parts for their various F units. Body panels if nothing else.
I'm a little surprised 4210 (pictured) wasn't given to the LSRM, they'd have a matching A-B-A set of Erie Mining… It also would have been nice if the Minnesota Zephyr units stayed in Minnesota, but unfortunately that likely won't happen since they'll be moved eventually.
Kelley Hogan,
Amtrak actually did try to do just that back in the seventies. They wanted to build a new generation of E units called the E10. EMD had thrown away some machine pattern that was critical for this concept so it never happened. I think that is when they got the F 40 instead. The F 40 was a GP-40 with a cowl on it. I'm going on memory so someone may correct me on that however.
I know they were only B units, but it would've been nice to save one or two. Something I've been wondering about tho. With the classic style of the E's and F's, why doesn't EMD revive the carbody but with all the new technology, prime mover, trucks and whatever else, then market them to Amtrak and the commuter agencies around the country. They'd be way more stylish than these flat nosed boxes that are being sold these days. How cool would that be to see brand new E units sailing down the tracks!
The Hoyt Lakes – Taconite Harbor line was also used in the mid – 2000's for two days of excursions sponsored by the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth. Quite a thrill going across the ore docks in Taconite Harbor.
When was the last time any of you saw an E8B or an E9B ? It's been a good 40 years for me. Amtrak had some on the Floridian back in their "rainbow" era.
It's funny how these B units sat for many years and all of a sudden had to be scraped. And in the middle of winter. It would of been nice if they were offered for sale beforehand.
It's always nice to see for F units saved, but seems like people only save the A units. Now we lost another 3 B units that could have been saved. I think a perfect setup for Fs is A-B-A or A-B-B-A, but with no Bs, that can't happen.
It's terrible that they couldn't be saved. Everyone has an A unit, but how many B units do you see preserved? Not many.
A terrible shame for the ones that were scrapped. The styling is timeless. The EMD E and F units will always be my favorite diesels. We will never see their like again.
Unfortunately, today is December 15 and the Minnesota Zephyr F units are still on blocks in Stillwater, MN. Checked on them last night and no activity to move them.
It is my understanding that the B units were offered for sale as well with no takers. The major issue with them is that the wheel profile was so far gone no railroad would allow them to move over their property. The A units have enough profile left so they can move on their own wheels. Trucking a locomotive is not cheap.
The promised day of removal of the F units from Stillwater, MN was 15 December. This has been going on for years and I don't expect it to end soon.
Did they even offer the Erie Mining B units for sale or donation before deciding to scrap thrm? I bet Ed might have been interested in them. As to the B units not being very useful they would have made great parts donors. As the mechanical and allot of the body parts could have been used to save or upgrade an A unit, especially mechanically do to being F9 models. Just think of the classic car and truck world, allot of 4 door sedans and long bed trucks our salvaged for parts, mechanical and body, to keep the more popular 2 door cars and short bed trucks existing and running.
Ross Stone,
I admire now much more than when I hired out, the F's A-unit conformation, tho' I wonder what esthetic benefit derives from repeating the conformation of an A-unit"s butt end 50, or so, feet at a unit, until another A-unit is a multipliier to them.
For Mr. Petit:
We're sneaking up on Christmas week. Lots of things slow down this time of year; don't give up until after the first of the year!
The usefulness of B units *is* rather limited. You need at least one A unit to make them useful, and if your acquisition budget only allows for the purchase of one diesel, guess who's going to win.
It would have been nice if they'd offered those Bs for sale for scrap value. Could they have been moved on their own wheels?
Sad sight to look at. Wish they could have been preserved.