The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1901-07-19
D. & |. R. Ry.
Many Interesting Facts Concerning this
Great Company.

: Many interesting Facts Concerning thi,
Great Company.
The report that the new manage
ment OF the d. & I. r. considers il
desirable TO run heavier trains, have
more powerful engines and make
other changes. calls to mind that this
railroad ls now one of the best in the
United States and. without additional
weight and Improvements, is mode
for many more pretentiOuS and
larger system, says a writer in the
News-Tribune.
the D. & l. r. is that a policy based
on 1.-THE best is tile cheapest was car
ried out by President j. L. Great
singer and his assistants. The ID. &
|. r. Il. was one of the very first roads
; to employ safety and labor saving
devices. Good wages aud fair treat
ment also secures the best of usage of
everything by the employees.
A double track road is none too
common in the west. The D. & I. r.
not only has double track, but will
have more Of it us necessity demands
it. When the first track on the little
system was laid, sixty pound steel
was used. Today, over 40 miles are
laid with 100 pound rails and the bal
|ance with so pound rails.
Take the locomotives. The first
one weighed $4,000 pounds with
cylinders l6X24 inches and IL hauling
capacity of ten loads.
Today there are seventy engines of
all classes, about evenly divided be-
tween the Schenectady and Baldwin
manufacture. The standard freight
engines, of the cOmpany's own design,
are 12-wheelers ard of the mastOdon
type. or the drivers, one of them
weighs 10000 pounds or % tons.
The tender weighs 10000 pounds
more, holds 1000 gallons of water and
eight tons of coal. The combined
weight of tender and engine is 252, 600
pounds or 1l6 tons. With cylinders
22X26 inches and Il steam pressure of
200 pounds. they have hauling cap
acity OF ! $50 tons. But that is not
enough for the new regime. The ore
must be hauled and, if these engines
cannot haul Il hundred or two tons
more than they were originally de-
signed to do, then they probably will
have to give way to some that are
larger and more powerful. And the
report goes further and says that
more capaciOuS ore cars are Il strong
possibility. The first ore cars used
nearly two decades ago, were puny 20
ton affairs, manufactured at Still
water. Mimi. Later great pride was
taken in wooden ore cars that held 80
tons of iron ore. Last season, $50
pressed steel ore cars were brought
into service, each holding 80 tons.
In time. as the wooden cars wear out,
it is supposed that they will be re-
placed by the huge steel affairs. They
rock and heave and, sometimes. jump
the track and stop traffic until the
wrecking crew does little work but
the ore must be robbed from natures
store house on the ranges so there is Il
possibility that still larger ones will
be seen rolling along the double track
some busy morning.
The ID. & [. r. roundhouse at Two
HarbOrS is most complete. The flrst
one was d little wooden affair OF six
stalls. The present structure is built
of brick and on circle of % stalls.
| The entrance cuts out two stalls but
| there are actually so fire proof stalls
for the mammoth iron horses that
pull loads up and down the $50 miles
of main track, spurs and sidings.
Each stall has Il commOdiOus pit, good
drainage and is heated by steam. Hot
and cold water, compressed air and
| high pressure steam are provided
each stall and the entire structure
has both arc and incandescent lights.
| There are also water motors for driv-
! ing machinery on light repair work.
The Two Harb0rs yards are famed
far and near among practical railroad
men, They are models of convenience
and capacity, There are forty-one
miles of track and yard room for $500
cars. The diamond switches are
notable and interesting features.
The car shops have everything nee
cessary for building wooden cars.
There is u complete iron and brass
foundry and stOrehOSe that carries a
stock of about 100000. The shops are
equipped with the latest machinery
and tools. The,power plants are first
Iclass and complete in every way.
/ With the five docks the general pub
lie is much more familiar. They
range from 500 to |, 400 feet in length.
possess 1856 pockets, have Il storage
capacity of 1853, 100 tons and can handle
), O00. 900 tons of ore and upwards In d
single season. Twenty vessels can be
loaded simultaneously and that brings
out the interesting point concerning
the growth in size of the lake vessels.
Up to 1870, a 700 ton vessel was a
large one. Ittook two days to load
one with ore and IA much longer time
to unload. La 1870 the largest barge
carried 1000 tons aud made II trips a
season.
Today, cargoes of 5000 and even
I 900 tons are common There are
several ore carrying boats 500 feet
long and 4O0-footer is now almost
considered u puny craft. These large
vessels are loaded frequently in three
or four hours and unlOaded is us
quickly as ten hours. The cargo re,
cord of the Two Harbors docks up to
Jan. /, 1901, was held by the schooner
Manila which, October 80, 1899, loaded
and carried out 7.479 gross tons of ore
Last season the average of the cargoes
shipped from those docks was ovel
1900 tOns.,.
The Tournament.
The next event of Importance
scheduled for Hibbing is the tOurn
| amant Of firnmpn from the two irOT