Howdy: I have a DVD of ore operations on the DM&IR back in the 50s. One of the shots is of a Mikado pulling a string of ore cars with the cars coupled to the pilot and the engine running in reverse. This was on the main line so it wasn’t a switching operation. My question is was this practice done for a reason? Thanks. the goat
I would guess that they didn’t have the means to turn the engine around at one end of the line or the other, such as a wye, a loop, or a turntable- probably only had a siding they could use to run the engine around to the other end of the ore cars. Were the ore cars empty?
Brian: Hard to tell if they were empty. The DVD was made from 16mm film shot by a bunch of railfans of the DM&IR. Most of the film was of the Yellowstones hauling ore from the mines in northern Minnesota to the Duluth ore docks.
I dont know exactly, but I believe it was so no turning of the engine was needed, just a runaround.
On the Missabe, they still run a single SD40-3 backwards on the return trip of the T-Bird Shuttles.
I will get the info to you in a few days once my fellow Missabe Historical Society members and I chat it up.