By Ryan Drake/photos by the author
Hearing about Lake Superior & Ishpeming’s (LS&I) operation alone piqued my interest and that of several fellow Midwest railfan friends. Add in the possibility of seeing General Electric (GE) U30C and C30-7 diesel locomotives in action, and my friends and I began planning a road trip about a year ago — all via text messages. We are all in our 20s, so U30C and C30-7 power is something we didn’t get to enjoy in its heyday.
In late May 2021, I, along with Darius Bell (Kansas City area), Jonah Hemingway (Springfield, Mo., area), and Sam Brodersen (another Omaha guy like me), journeyed up to Minneapolis and did some railfanning there; we then went over to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to see how our luck would be in catching the few remaining former Burlington Northern (BN) units serving on LS&I trains. We found the scenery was great, and finding the hoped-for near-antique GEs in operation became a reality…
ABOVE: LS&I 3000 and 3009 approach the yard at Eagle Mills, Mich., in 2021. —Jonah Hemingway photo
ABOVE: LS&I 3009 was acquired from BN in late 1990; the road received its first U30Cs from BN’s roster in April 1989. The U30Cs are the most plentiful type of locomotive on LS&I’s all-time roster. In addition, the road had U25Cs (retired around 1990) and U23Cs (retired in 1993-1994). —Ryan Drake photo
ABOVE: LS&I 3073 began its days with Burlington Northern as 5529, built in July 1977 by GE (serial number 41552). After years of hauling unit coal trains, this C30-7 migrated to ore duties in Michigan. This was one of four ex-BN C30-7s (3071–3074) to join LS&I’s roster in 1999. —Ryan Drake photo
