Welcome to my unofficial web site for the Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad. Read about the Lake Superior & Ishpeming RR, my endeavors to model the LS&I, and links relating to news, history, pictures, and products for the LS&I. I will try to add stuff for the Marquette & Huron Mountain RR too.  

NEWS

2/27/2008 : Here are some memories from Tom Sharland, thanks Tom! I also have some pictures coming up soon.

2/8/2008 : Here is some more from Andy. I have some stuff from Tom Sharland in the next few days. The San Luuis & Rio Grande has just purchased LS&I steam locomotives Numbers 18 and 20. They plan to have No. 18 operating in 2008 and No. 20 operating in 2009. They operate their passenger excursion trains out of Alamosa, CO. They operate their passegner service as the Rio Grand Scenic Railroad. The link to their website with the announcement of the LS&I locomotives is here.

2/2/2008 : Well, I guess all I have to do is ask! I have some news from two sources. First one is about some new LS&I Coal Cars being produced by the Soo Line Historical Society. Here is an order form.

1/18/2008 : As you can tell, there hasn't been much activity here in the last year. Mainly because I don't live near the LS&I and I haven't been getting any contributions. So this is a reminder that I gladly accept photos, stories, data, etc., of anything LS&I or M&HM, full size or not. I do intend to keep running this site, but it will get a little stale without some new material.

12/20/06 : Here is a picture of RS-3 1604 from Greg Hamman. Looks good, I think it can go another 40 years! Speaking of RS-3s, I just got my Atlas RS-3 factory decorated for Lake Superior & Ishpeming in the as delivered yellow and red. The paint work is very good. I got number 1604, they also have 1605. I ran it yesterday and it runs very smooth like all Atlas locos. It has handrails already applied, so be careful taking it out of the box. I hope they will offer a maroon version as well. The starting speed is low, about a tie a second, although at this speed there is just the slightest amount of uneveness, but a slight bit more throttle and it is smooth as melted butter. I recommend it highly even if you already have one. The LS&I had many of these locos, so you can too.

06/02/06 : Atlas has announced the Alco RS-3 in LS&I original Red/Yellow! You can see the color scheme at their site.

05/31/06 : Mark would like some info on LS&I Wood Chip Gondolas, pictures or dimensions etc. He also has some extra LS&I decals. If you are interested or can help Mark, email him.

03/28/06 : Bill Hanslik sent some great phots of ex-LS&I No. 33. It is running on the Ohio Central. Here is the front, the side, the rear, and pulling the polar express. Here is another shot of the front, with a blast of steam for effect. Thanks for the pictures Bill!

3/19/06 : Ron would like some info on a M&HM turntable. Here is what he has so far: Late-1960s ? In 1963 The Marquette & Huron Mountain RR bought a 25 mile long line between Marquette and Big Bay, MI, that the Lake Superior & Ishpeming had abandoned in 1958, with the rails being left in place. It began operating it as a steam powered tourist line by 1964 and at some point in the late 1960s installed a turntable (about 85??) of unknown origin at the Marquette end of the line. The location away from population centers kept patronage low and the run was shortened to a 15 mile round trip after a few years. The initial operation ended by 1969 after the death of its principal owner. It was restarted in the 1970s but operation finally ended about 1984. The turntable was still there in 1983, but its fate is unknown after a 1985 estate auction which dispersed the locomotives and other equipment. Ron is compiling a list of turntables moved for tourist or museum use, write to him here.

1/25/06 : Another picture form Greg's model railroad. This time its a very impressive dock. Notice that it holds 27 cars per track and there are four tracks! This is more than half the size of the prototype, which has 200 pockets versus Greg's, which has 108.

1/23/06 : Gregg Bruff is seeking photos, drawings, or plans for the Munising Depot. Email Gregg.

1/12/06 : Greg sent along some more great pictures of his model railroad. The first one is a view of West Yard with some very good scenery. Second is the Dock Office that is on top of the Ore Dock, looks much like I remember. And third is 1853 up close and personal. A view of the entire Ore Dock is coming soon!

1/6/06 : John Hoxie sent this picture of ex-LS&I 19. He says the following: We now have LS&I #19 here in Frisco, TX. We purchased it from the Grand Canyon RR last year and had it moved from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas to its new home here in Texas. The town of Frisco was established in 1902 and was named after the famous Frisco Railroad. The town was an important site for the railroad as one of the rare natural streams of the area was dammed to provide water in an area not known for this commodity. Over the years the town and surrounding area grew prosperous due to the railroad's ability to move cotton to market. Today, Frisco is going through a rebirth and growing at an incredible pace. We in the Heritage Association wanted to preserve our railroad history by developing a permanent exhibition that will include #19, and a complete replica of the Frisco Depot. Here are some photographs of #19 now under the Frisco logo. Within the next year, we hope to have the new depot complete and ready for visitors. We're interested in finding additional information about #19 that is not posted on your website. Can you guide me in where I can find additional photos, maintenance records, or even parts for the old Iron Horse? You can email John here.

12/10/05 : Robert is looking for any info on LS&I No. 11. He would also like a complete steam power list.

11/29/05 : Some more pictures from Greg Bennett's model railroad. Here is an excellent job of weathering on 2300. Looks like it is 20 years old! Also two pictures of his roundhouse, from the left side and front.

10/20/05 : Robert is looking for any info on the conditions of the Baldwin 2-8-0 #32. I am also lookin for a way to contact the LS&I about the condition of the #32 and its current state.

9/17/05 : I have received some excellent pictures from Greg. I am going to finally start posting them. First, here are three pictures from Greg. The first two are of his ore dock in HO scale, before and after. The third is the prototype LS&I, two ore cars. I will post some more soon, both from Greg and Tom Sharland.

9/14/05 : The publication Diesel Era has a very comprehensive article on LS&I diesels this month. It has many pictures, a thorough history, and a roster. Thanks to Diesel Era and David Sweetwater, I highly recommend it.

9/9/05: Good news for LS&I modelers. Walthers site has announced that Broadway Limited will offer the next run of RSD15s in LS&I colors, both maroon and bright red! There are two numbers in each color, either with or without sound, for a total of 8 choices! They will also offer GB&W. The expected delivery date is winter 2006. However, there is bad news as well. Athearn responded to an email of mine saying they have no plans to release the 26 foot ore jennies that MDC used to do. But there is good news. Walthers is making another run of the taconite cars with LS&I in their Gold Line version.

THE MINE JOB

It all starts with the real thing.  A sub-100 mile shortline with regular 7000 ton trains of taconite pellets.  It runs from the mines of the Marquette Iron Range to the Upper Harbor of Marquette MI.  It also served the Kimberly-Clark paper mill at Munising MI and exchanges full jennies for empties with the Wisconsin Central, and formerly with the Chicago & Northwestern, the Soo Line and Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic.  The Soo Line, ex-DSS&A ore dock is in Marquette's Lower Harbor and the WC dock is in Escanaba MI.
 


THE HILL JOB

I grew up next to the LS&I and have always loved trains. When I was a young lad, I won a gift certificate to the nearby hobby store (that was on the Soo Line track) and my first purchase was an LS&I ore jennie by Roundhouse Products. I have had several model railroads attempting to model the LS&I with varying degrees of fidelity, and am starting on another. There are quite a few more LS&I products now than back in 1970 when I started so modeling the LS&I is even easier.
 

My Mother came up with the name for my model railroads in 1970. It is the Presque Isle Central Railroad. This comes from the penisula of land that is near the upper harbor of Marquette. It is also (close) central to the LS&I, the Soo Line/DSS&A, the C&NW, and the Wisconsin Central. I would love to fit all of these operations in a layout but that takes quite a bit of room. I am currently drawing a layout for a 11 x 17 room, which doubles as my office, so it has to fit close to the wall.
 

Of course, I am not the only modeler concerned with the LS&I. I have a listing of other model railroads that include the LS&I which can be reached by clicking here.


THE DOCK JOB

There is quite a bit of media concerning the LS&I, such as books, magazine articles, and videos. Click here.
 

EXTRAS

Any interest in a chat group? Or an informal historical society? Or additional links, news, and other info?

NMRA Directory of World Wide Rail Sites

RailServe.com: The Internet Railroad Directory - Over 10,000 rail-related links, search engine, daily rail news, free classified ads, discussion board, Train Simulator add-ons, and more!

Kevin Musser's Copper Range Railroad site. It has two cybertours of the LS&I.

Tom Carello has started an LS&I Site with some neat pictures.

Ed Gross has an LS&I Site with pictures (although he models the GB&W!).

Railway Photos By Ted Ellis has some LS&I and M&HM.

Alcos In The USA and Beyond by Andy Inserra has Alco photos.

Andrew Kinnunen has a Michigan Iron Ore Railroad website.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula Directory
The most complete - user friendly directory of Michigan's Upper Peninsula web sites anywhere.

UP Blue is edited by John December and has lots of UP stuff.

Cooper & Oshtemo Locomotive Works paints locos and cars and does an excellant job.

You are visitor number: 

Send email to dpierce@i2k.com