Photo: Joe Ross from Lansing, Michigan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
If you see a long string of ore cars rolling through Marquette County, it is probably the Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad. Locals call it the LS&I.
The railroad dates to the late 1800s, when competing lines raced to carry ore from mines around Ishpeming and Negaunee to Lake Superior. It has been tied to Cleveland-Cliffs for most of its history.
How it works today
The LS&I carries taconite pellets from the Tilden Mine to the ore dock at Presque Isle in Marquette’s Upper Harbor. There, the cars dump pellets into the dock’s pockets, and chutes load them onto lake freighters.
The trains run through the seasons, though lake shipping slows or stops in the coldest months when the locks close. Pellets are stockpiled for spring.
History along the line
The railroad once served the Lower Harbor ore dock too. When shipping moved to Presque Isle, the old line through town was abandoned and turned into trails.
Railroad fans come to photograph the trains, especially at the Presque Isle dock. For the county, the line is a reminder that mining still depends on getting ore to the water.
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