(soft gentle music) - [Narrator] Trains are on the move in Minnesota and Wisconsin every day.

They carry thousands of tons of freight, grain, ore, and coal through our communities to ports along Lake Superior and to markets across the country.

This is the story of the people who work on the railroad.

(upbeat music) (train rumbles softly) Locomotives from the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway creep along the tracks at US Steel's Minntac Plant near Mountain Iron.

The DM&IR is the largest ore carrying railroad in North America.

It's the primary ore carrier for three area iron mines, including this one, the single largest producer of taconite pellets in the United States.

(pellets pouring) - [Speaker] We have 116 loads of Minntac taconite pellets.

Each car is 70 ton worth of pellets.

We have two units here, 6,000 horsepower.

So it's a lot of weight that we're pulling for just two units.

- When I come to a stop, I have to pull away real slowly to get all the knuckles stretched out tight before I pull real hard on her.

Otherwise, I'll break them in two.

(siren blares softly) - [Narrator] Jim Norlen's been with the DM&IR for 24 years, as a carpenter, welder, and brakeman, and the last 10 years running trains between his hometown of Two Harbors and the mines of Minnesota's Iron Range.

(train rumbles softly) (siren blares) As a kid, Norlen watched the steam-driven Mallets working the same DM&IR run he's on today.

Modern communication equipment and an onboard computer make the job a little easier.

- If I have trouble, I can go into the event log and check to see what was wrong with the engine at that time, why the alarms were going off or something like that.

It's kind of nice for us.

- [Narrator] Another tool is embedded right in the tracks and gives him information about how the rest of the train is running.

- [Jim] Once all the engines and the cars go over it, it detects it if I have any brakes sticking or if I have anything dragging underneath.

One of the cars might be off the tracks or something, I might be dragging it or something, and it'll let us know, and then we'll have to stop and check it out.

- [Narrator] The tracks between Minntac and the dock at Two Harbors are covered by CTC, which stands for Centralized Traffic Control.

It's a series of lights that signal the crew to proceed, slow down, or stop depending on the situation.

- [Jim] They set up the lights for us and divert the traffic here and there if we have trains that meet or something like that.

Or if they have welders or somebody out working on the tracks, they have to get them off of the tracks when we start to come towards.

- Lower crossing.

Yes, we did, lower crossing in Aurora.

We just went by there.

Over.

- [Narrator] Conductor Lee Korteum handles the crew's radio communications and does the paperwork.

Technically, he's considered the boss on board, but, usually, he and the engineer run the job together.

(siren blares) - I have to be observant of anything on the track, be observant of our light system, our CTC, shut out to the engineer what lights are, what they mean.

Also, we do some switching at certain points.

Start of our shift was in Two Harbors.

We loaded 116 cars at Minntac on the east side.

And we came up light, and now we're coming back loaded, and our destination is right where we started back at Two Harbors.

The travel time, depending on a few different factors, meets and our engines and if we have slow orders, but it could be anywhere from 10 to 12 hours for a round trip.

- [Narrator] Korteum is also a Two Harbors native.

His dad owned a bate and tackle shop right next to DM&IR's main line into town.

- [Lee] Born and raised in Two Harbors.

Lived there all my life.

And then hired out on the railroad has been kind of a dream come true for me.

I guess, I feel very fortunate, very lucky to be going through areas like this where you see so many different things.

You know, you see lakes, you see rivers, you see Lake Superior when they come into Two Harbors.

- [Jim] Just coming out of a turnout there, and I had to keep her down to 20 miles an hour until my tail came out of that turnout.

And the speed limit is 30 miles an hour down to Waldo, and then 22 from there on out.

(siren blares) From Highland all the way to Two Harbors, now I'll be using nothing but brake because I'm tipping over the hill right now.

And when I switch on to this one, this is my dynamic brake, which is the engine brake.

It changes the traction motors into generators and creates resistance on the wheels.

And I can adjust it as much as I want here up to 600 amps.

(gentle music) I have several sets of brakes here I'll be using all the way into Two Harbors because it's a fairly good grade.

And it's between 1-2% grade down to Waldo, and then it's upwards of 3% grade from Waldo into Two Harbors, which is considered mountain grade.

And so the brakes will be pretty hot by the time we get to Two Harbors.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music ends) (hammer whacks) - [Narrator] Inside a huge workshop at the DM&IR's main yard in Proctor, a crew of carmen work on a mass of steel wheels and metal cars.

They're fixing up 123 vintage rail cars to haul limestone up to the mines on the Iron Range.

With a four-year apprenticeship under his belt, Rick Griffin has a good understanding of the project and the process involved.

- [Rick] We're taking the cars and shortening them so they'll be able to, we can put the safety appliances on the end to meet the federal standards.

Yeah, this is a really big job.

Taking a lot of man hours to get it done, but we're gonna get it.

- [Narrator] This rebuilding project is the department's biggest in 20 years.

When the work is done, the car box will be two feet shorter to make room for a crossover platform on each end.

The operation takes time and a lot of welding.

- Well, right now, what we're doing is where we got all the structural cracks, we take an Arcair these things out with the Arcair, blow all the bad metal out and then reweld them so they'll hold up.

As you can see there, we got all the cracks are marked out in white chalk, and then I go through and blow them out, and then we'll reweld them.

And we do that through the whole car, both sides of the car, we do it on the ends of the doors that were already cut off.

Up here now is where we can see the crack and you blow it out.

And on this side I removed the whole weld there.

And across the top, I blew the weld out.

And now we'll go through and chip all the slag out of it and then reweld the cracks and it'll be good to go.

- [Narrator] At their peak, these Carmen finished five cars a week.

They rebuilt 123 cars in less than a year.

It's a major accomplishment for the car department, and one these carmen are proud of.

(train rumbles) (twangy music) - Engine 46 to the conductor.

I'm ready to set them up.

Setting up.

(twangy music) - [Narrator] The crew of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad is primed for another run.

The all-volunteer operation offers scenic excursion along the St. Louis River in West Duluth.

(whistle blows) The LS&M coordinates its weekend excursions with the BNSF, whose trains still serve industries in the area.

(train rumbles) (siren blares) - [Conductor] First switch is line, second wrong.

As you can see, the Burlington Northern Track goes straight ahead.

It goes up the Steelton Yard, which is part of the interstate line for the DWP.

And we're taking the left one, we're going down onto the original track.

(twangy music) - [Narrator] The tracks are remnants of the city's first rail line.

Follow the water's edge to Fond du Lac, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods.

The line was in active service for 100 years, then donated to the city in the late 1970s.

The engine and passenger cars are authentic as well.

- What we have here is a General Electric center cab switcher.

What's nice about this particular locomotive, it's very miserly on the fuel.

And if we lose one half of the system, we can come home on the other half.

So there are two separate engines, generators, and traction motor systems.

- [Narrator] Operating on the LS&M is serious business.

The crew is schooled in train handling and safety and covered by federal regulations.

- [Andy] Both Larry and I carry cards, either as a fireman or as a student engineer.

We also do conductor training.

I'd like to thank the BN for helping us with our training.

They were very nice about it.

- [Narrator] On a beautiful fall day, it's easy to be generous with compliments about the railroad, it's crew, and the view.

(twangy music) - [Announcer] And you look over riverside, you'll all see a large bridge.

(bell chimes) (whistle blows) - [Narrator] At the turnaround, passengers get a glimpse of the switch engine making its way around to pull its cars back to town.

(bell chimes) (whistle blows) (twangy music) (siren blares) (twangy music continues) - [Passenger] They're pretty, aren't they?

(twangy music fades) (train rumbles) - 759 ready to back up.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] It's a working day on the Canadian Pacific Railway.

In Superior, a handful of engineers, conductors, and switchmen are building the days trains at CP's main terminal just off of Stinson Avenue.

(gentle music) - [Dispatcher] 759 (indistinct).

(metal clanks) - What we're gonna be doing is we're gonna be bringing this train here over to our yard in Duluth, and we're gonna yard the train, and then the seven o'clock switch engine over there.

We'll actually do the spotting at Cargill.

- [Narrator] John Olson is one of CP's youngest engineers.

In many ways, he's the future of the railway.

- [John] I gotta make sure my wheels aren't slipping.

You know, I'm using sand right now.

That'll give us better adhesion because I'm at a higher throttle.

Just watch my amperage and just keep an eye on my mirror there.

Make sure nothing's going wrong back there.

Pretty much on a move like this, he's the ears and eyes.

(metal clanks) - [Narrator] Over the course of a couple of hours, John and conductor Don Adams build a train more than a mile long.

This transfer train has over 100 cars, including a group of 50 hopper cars filled with North Dakota wheat.

It's grain destined for the Cargill elevator in Duluth.

(bell rings) A CP transfer crosses eight city streets in Superior before it reaches the railroad bridge that connects the city to Duluth.

At least four of those streets are major traffic arteries.

CP crews approach every crossing with caution.

Don keeps a watchful eye on everything.

- Pedestrians, auto traffic might be stuck on the track.

Also look for any defects on curves.

We have to coordinate our moves with a Burlington BNSF Santa Fe Railroad.

Yeah, we'll be following that UP just coming over Hammond Avenue now.

- [Operator] You're just coming over Hammond following the UP.

All right, thanks.

- [Don] UP transfer out.

- [Narrator] With a green light from the operator of BNSF's Grassy Point Drawbridge, CP's transfer train moves through Superior's Winter Street.

(bell chimes) Just across Tower Avenue, the conductor makes a switch that puts his train in line with the drawbridge.

For the crew, crossing the St. Louis Bay is a highlight of the trip.

(serene music) (serene music continues) (train rumbles softly) The CP railway uses a mix of cars and engines from former CP subsidiaries.

The Milwaukee Road and the Soo Line are both apart from CP's lineage.

(gentle music) CP moves both grain and mixed freight through the twin ports.

It also handles switching duties at a number of commercial interests, many of them based around the Port of Duluth.

- [John] 759 coming by car.

(indistinct radio chatter) - [John] Throttle up.

(bell chimes) - [Don] You're using one track, then two track, then three, and the last one will go main three.

- [Narrator] By railroad standards, CP's Rice's Point yard is tight quarters, just 25 cars fit on each track.

So to drop off its cars, the crew will do a little extra switching and maneuvering before returning to Superior.

- [Johnson] Dispatcher.

- Dispatcher, go ahead, foreman Johnson.

Over.

- [Narrator] It's a typically busy morning for Dave Harrison, a dispatcher with the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific.

His tiny office is just a few feet from the tracks at DWP's Pokegama yard in Superior.

Surrounded by computers and communication equipment, Harrison controls all the trains coming and going along 162 miles of track.

The DWP's main line between Superior and Ranier at the Canadian border.

- This is an overview of what's happening out there.

This is our north limit is Van Lin.

And you can see I've got a train line from mileage 126 into Haley, and I've got another one in northbound from Minorca Junction, which is just north of Virginia.

They're gonna meet at Haley, kind of just like the old sixth grade math problems.

Train A leaves at this time and train B leaves, and where are they gonna meet, you know?

And that's what you're doing.

It takes a long time to learn, you know, how long it takes a train to get to each point and where to meet them.

And, you know, I made a lot of bad meets when I first started, but the biggest thing is safety.

DWP dispatcher, go ahead 2592 north.

Over.

- [Crew] What's the plan?

- [Dave] Northbound locals leaving Potlatch now, and we got a test train waiting for them at Haley.

They'll be coming to Virginia to meet you.

Over.

- [Crew] Yeah, okay.

We'll probably cut the car off and run up and have coffee then.

- [Dave] Okay.

Dispatcher out.

- [Narrator] Two-way radio communication keeps Harrison in touch with the trains and crews working along the DWP line.

He also has a special piece of equipment which controls seven miles of track in Virginia.

The centralized traffic control system allows DM&IR trains to safely run across the DWP main to the Minorca mine.

- [Dave] I can run everything here.

Like, right now there's this switch at Shelton.

They cleared that switch.

I just throw this lever and push the button, and now that switch is now moving itself back onto our main.

- [Narrator] Harrison has been safely running trains for eight years after working two years on a DWP track gang.

- You know, you've got the phone ringing and two or three guys calling and, you know, it gets stressful.

But you just kind of learn what's important and go to that one first, and, you know, and then the phone is always secondary because, you know- - [Interviewer] It's not a moving train.

- Right, right.

And out here you've got two trains running at each other at 50 miles an hour.

So, you know, this is the most important thing is to make sure everybody's out there and everybody's safe.

- [Narrator] Despite the stress of the dispatcher's job, he's happy keeping Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific trains on track.

- It's kind of nice that we're a small outfit so you know everybody that works here.

You know, there's no "I don't know who that guy is," or whatever.

I mean, I know everybody by their first name and where they live and, you know, just about.

So it's kind of nice that way.

- [Radio] 5427 north, dispatcher.

- Dispatcher go ahead, 5427.

Over.

(bell rings) (train rumbles) - [Narrator] A unit train run by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is on its way to Superior, Wisconsin with a load of low sulfur coal.

It's journey from Wyoming's Antelope Mine through St. Paul and north fits the BNSF's main mission to deliver maximum tonnage and maximum service with a minimum of equipment.

- [Gary] Our northbound line is a real tough line to run.

It's undulating.

It's always, it's up and down.

There's no straight, you know, it's no straight track.

It's all up and down, around curves and stuff, so you're always pretty much doing something to maintain your speed.

But yeah, it's a nice line to run as far as scenery, but you don't really get to enjoy too much of it.

You're always whistling for crossings and watching for cars, and there's too much to do, you know?

(siren blares) (train rumbles) - [Narrator] The BNSF has 20 trains in motion between the coal fields of the Powder River Basin and the Midwest energy dock in Superior at any given time.

The railway delivers more than a thousand train loads each year.

(train rumbles) An average coal train has 113 cars and weighs more than 15,000 tons.

Fully loaded, it takes 2.5 miles to bring it to a stop.

(train rumbles) (gentle music) - [Gary] No train handles the same, but coal trains are different because they're so long, and like I said, they're heavy.

So you gotta start back a lot farther than you normally do.

On a mixed freight, you can get away with starting a lot later sometimes.

You know, with the coal loads though, you start back two miles almost always just to make sure that you're gonna be able to stop where you have to.

It's a different job all the way around, you know?

It's unlike driving a car.

Everybody says, "Well, how hard can it be?

You don't steer it."

Well, steering is not the hard part, it's stopping, you know, and starting.

Anybody can get one going, but, you know, stopping it once you get there, that's the hard part.

- [Narrator] Engineer Gary Van Overmeiren works mixed freight, coal, and taconite trains for the BNSF.

He treats them all with respect, a habit he picked up in engineer school.

- [Gary] It's all nerve-wracking, you know, because now there's nobody sitting there you to tell, you know, you better do something a little bit faster, you better slow down a little bit more.

Now, it's all just you.

So, you know, you're scared about the first two to three years.

After you've done it a couple times, it's like anything else, you do the same thing every time.

- [Narrator] The tracks at Midwest Energy loop around the main facility, so a loaded train can be spotted while another one unloads.

A trip around the circuit offers glimpses of the St. Louis Bay, the Duluth hillside, and wildlife too.

(gentle music) - [Gary] Yeah, this train will be pulled out, and then we go onto the same track he's on.

And we'll go around, there'll be another switch.

One will veer off to the left, one will go to the right.

We'll go to the left end of the dumper.

He'll take the right one and go out the same way the same way we came down.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] After inching into the plant's rotary car dump, the unloading process begins and this crew is done.

(upbeat music fades) (train rolls softly) - [Narrator] It's 8:00 AM on a Tuesday morning in October and a Canadian National Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific train pulls into the depot at Ranier, Minnesota just across the Canadian border.

DWP is a subsidiary of Canadian National.

Under agreements, peg crews take over on the US side of the border.

- Are you taking this up?

- Yeah.

- [Narrator] Engineer Scott Myre and conductor Ron Willis are veterans of this run between the Canadian border and the DWP's Pokegama yard in Superior.

- [Ron] Today, is Tuesday so we go up on Monday.

We go home on Tuesday, we got Wednesday off, then we come up on Thursday, go back on Friday, have Saturday off.

And we do that all month.

- [Narrator] The DWP runs four or more trains a day over this 155 mile stretch of track.

Many of them freight trains on their way from Winnipeg to Chicago.

- [Scott] We gotta pull up by slow here because custom is checking the car numbers.

(train rumbles) Nice to have a lot of power to weight ratio.

A rule of thumb around here is usually one horsepower per ton, and that's how it works out today.

We've got 8,000 tons and we've got 8,000 horsepower, so.

These are the nicest locomotives that we have.

We call it a whisper cab.

You can actually talk in here instead of yell at each other.

Yeah, you get spoiled by these.

It's like riding in a Cadillac for a day, and then tomorrow we'll be riding in an old beat up Volkswagen.

(bell rings) (siren blares) (train rumbles) - [Ron] I like going through the towns too, you know.

Going through (indistinct), there's always people out there waving and stuff like that.

- [Scott] Most engineers with experience know the track well no matter how many branches they run.

You have to know the geography angle to control the speed of the train, which is what the job entails.

(train rumbles softly) - [Ron] I think my favorite spot would probably be just outside of Ericsburg on this end before Ash Lake.

There's a lot of winding track and a lot of maple trees and stuff are, you know, as far as picturesque.

(train rumbles) - [Scott] It's unusual to make a trip without seeing a lot of wildlife.

Early spring and fall now when the migratory birds are flying, you see a lot more eagles and different types of hawks and stuff.

(upbeat music) (siren blares) (train rumbles) Another 35 mile an hour slow through here because of these curves.

When this railroad was initially built up, they didn't have engines this big and heavy so it's a little stressful on the curvature of the tracks and they have a speed restriction.

(upbeat music) (train rumbles) (upbeat music continues) Yeah, it's the steepest grade on the railroad.

But, yeah, you descend from up on top of the hill all the way down to the river basin, the St. Louis river basin, yeah.

It's very exciting.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] As a major crossing between Minnesota and Wisconsin, the old Oliver Bridge has carried thousands of trains over the St. Louis River.

On its lower level, cars often pass as heavy freight rumbles overhead.

The bridge also marks the approach of DWP's Pokegama yard.

- [Scott] With a loaded train, I would say on an average, I'll start stopping a 1.5 mile or maybe even a little bit more depending on the train.

If I'm going downhill, obviously, I have to start stopping a little sooner than if I'm going downhill, so.

(bell rings) (train rumbles) (upbeat music) (metal clanks) - That's it.

We're done.

(machine buzzing) - [Narrator] An amazing parade of maintenance equipment stretches out along a section of track near Carson.

It's a track gang from the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway replacing worn out ties along the main line between Proctor and the Iron Range.

The DM&IR's Maintenance of Way department oversees more than 200 miles of track.

At 500 ties per mile, the department keeps tabs on well over 100 thousand ties along with numerous railroad crossings, lights and signals.

Today, it's ties and lots of them.

(machine buzzing) - [Ed] Well, your first two machines are your spike pullers.

They pull the spikes.

- This scrap part will be exciting.

- [Ed] Then comes your tie remover takes your old tie out.

Then you have a couple guys picking up plates, throw them to the side, tie plates off to the side.

Then you have your anchor spreader.

It moves your anchors away so the new tie can be installed.

Then you have your scarifier that loosens the ground up so the tie can be pushed in.

Then you have your tie handler, one of them piles the old scrap ties up, and the other one puts the new ones into the hole.

Then you have your tie inserter pushes the tie in.

Followed by a couple guys putting the plates back on the ties.

Then you have your plater, which picks the rail up, and the two men slide the plates under the rail.

Then you have your spiker spikes it up.

(machine vibrates) Then you have your rear machine, which is a rear anchor adjuster.

It pushes the anchors back against the tie.

- [Narrator] Modern track equipment is highly evolved, but machines can't do it all.

The art of swinging a spike maul is not lost.

(metal clanks) - [Ed] The machines don't spike joints.

You do it by hand.

(metal clanks) (train rumbles) - [Narrator] Bill Venne's worked on the railroad for more than 30 years.

He's number one on the Canadian Pacific Railway's seniority list and has his pick of jobs.

He likes being a switchman at CP's Rice's Point yard.

- [Ed] I started out switching and stayed with switchman.

My father was on the railroad, and the guy I was working for was on a Soo Line, and they both suggested trying to get on, and eventually I got on, hired out.

They had full crews in and they had needed more people at that time, but seemed a lot busier then than it is now too.

(train rumbles) Clear on the first cross into Duluth.

This is all switching mostly for the industries around here.

They get cars from Superior and they bring them over here.

You switch them out and spot cars at different industries' ports, Azcon, Two Elevator.

About six cars to the cross and seven (indistinct).

Cargill, usually, you put all the loads on two tracks up there, three and four.

And then when they have empties to load out, put them over on one track.

And if there's some reason they don't, they notify you ahead of time, so.

(upbeat music) One car (indistinct).

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (train rumbles) (upbeat music continues) (train rumbles) You look three, four steps ahead.

I had four tracks to switch out today, and I lined up the tracks before I started switching and had an idea of which cars I was going to put on which tracks, so I can line them all up at once and then take them over to port.

You always give them car lengths.

Like, if we start work, I'm gonna say, "Take them ahead 10 cars," and then I gotta say, "Five cars half the distance."

If I don't repeat "Five cars half the distance," he's supposed to stop.

That'll do.

(train rumbles) I normally use hand signs.

It's just easier and you've got your hands free actually compared to holding onto the radio, and you can switch your cars with the pins, you know, a lot easier that way, actually.

What makes a good switchman is a safe person, a person that's always thinking safety.

That's basically what the railroad wants and most of it's actually common sense.

Go by the rules and you shouldn't get in trouble.

I enjoy it.

It's been a good job and as you get older and work here like I have 33 years, you stick with the job.

Even if I didn't like it, I'd stick with the job.

(bell chimes) (siren blares) (train rumbles) Track warrant 105, October 28 '98 to engine 200 south at Fairlane.

- [Narrator] Just outside the Eveleth Taconite Company's plant in Forbes, Terry Janz is doing paperwork.

He's the conductor on a DM&IR ore train that's bringing a load of pellets down to Proctor.

- This is track work.

It gives us permission to run on the main line without worrying about other trains or track and equipment or anything else.

- [Narrator] Janz has been working for the railroad more than 30 years.

First as an engineer with the Soo Line, and the last 10 as a conductor with the DM&IR.

Running ore trains is just one of his assignments.

(siren blares) - [Terry] You can be in the yard, you can be up on the range in Keenan hauling the crude ore. You could be on limestone trains that go to Minntac and dump limestone.

So you get a little variety if you want.

It's long hours.

A lot of these jobs are seven days a week, so you put a lot of time in.

You're away from home a lot.

But it's a good job.

Railroad is, you gotta have it in your flood, I think.

(siren blares) - [Narrator] Ore trains like this one stretch out more than a mile as they snake through northern Minnesota's forests and farmland.

This one is 164 cars long.

Each rail car holds more than 70 tons of taconite.

If all goes well, the crew will make the 50-mile trip between Forbes and Proctor in less than three hours.

- Uphill slow, downhill fast.

You just gotta hold, try to keep your speed of your train as even as you can in the whole way.

That's what you plan on.

- [Narrator] Allan Carlson is the engineer on this run.

He went to engineer school two years ago after working a couple of years as a brakeman.

He grew up in Proctor watching DM&IR locomotives roll through town.

Now, he works a floating schedule on a number of the DM&IR's regular routes.

(train rumbles) - [Allan] Some guys just work in Proctor, some guys just work in Two Harbors, and some guys just work up in Keenan.

I want to export.

I go all over the place all the time.

So you pretty much know most of the jobs.

(siren blares) (train rumbles) - You want her here or do you want her up at the yard?

We're just gonna pull in the yard and sit over, and yeah, just up the yard, so bring her there.

This upper yard that you're looking at right now is a receiving yard where pellet trains from Minntac, Minorca, and Ftac come into and are yarded, and they sit here until a switch drop takes them down to the docks to unload them.

We're heading straight in.

Get to go home in about half an hour.

(train screeches) (hammer whacks) - [Narrator] The main line of the Wisconsin Central Railway in Superior is getting special attention.

A group of welders is on site to finish up work on a brand new switch coming out of the yard.

Through a process called thermite welding, they're connecting sections of track to form a continuous rail.

(thermite crackles softly) - [Tim] In this welding, you're actually pouring steel into a mold instead of using an electrode or wire.

The reason you do that is because you're filling in a gap that's an inch wide, and you need a lot of heat, you know, to fuse the two pieces of steel together is what you're doing, just melting the two pieces together, basically.

(saw buzzes) - [Narrator] Welders start by cutting a standard one-inch gap at the joint and then adjust the rail for the weld.

(hammer whacks) - Then you take your wedges and drive them underneath the plates to get your peak on the rail, about 50-80 thousandths peak with a three-foot straight edge.

While you're peaking it, you also do your alignment.

Make sure that the alignment is right, and there's no twists in the rail.

And once you've got the alignment right, the twist out and the peak right, then you're ready to start putting your molds on.

(molds rubbing) Basically, you rub them together to try to get them to fit, you know, the rail.

Once you get those on there and get them straight and get them so they're on their right.

You pack sand all the way around it.

There's a seam all the way around it.

And it's called luting sand.

It's just like beach sand with bentonite in it.

It makes it sticky.

Pack that all the way around, and then you go through a process of preheating for about five minutes.

(torch roars) Right here are the little steel pellets that actually make up the weld.

- [Narrator] Tim Welch and Jim Mabe do the job with practiced hands.

They've worked as a team for over two years and do most of the track welding done in the railway's northwest territory.

- [Tim] You probably saw me looking in there.

You really gotta watch that because if you start melting rail, you can create slag pockets in there, and you'll make a bad weld.

And so you gotta control the heat by turning the propane up and down a little bit to control your heat a little.

- [Narrator] Once the rail is up to temperature, it's showtime.

- [Tim] After your pre-heating is done, you light, it's like a sparkler, you know, an igniter.

Stick it in there, pull the pod over, and the thing you know does its shaking and rattling and spewing.

And it takes about 15 seconds, you know, to get up to probably 4,000-4,500 degrees.

Once it gets hot enough that thimble melts, and it pours out steel into the mold.

It hits a diverting plug that forces it to the outside so it doesn't rush to the bottom.

It goes around the diverting plug and out of the risers in the slag pans.

- [Narrator] Four minutes later, they can start taking the mold apart and preparing the rail for train traffic.

The clock's always ticking for this crew, especially when they're working on a main switch like this one.

They know that there are trains waiting to roll as soon as they're clear.

- [Tim] Something like this, you know, you gotta have at least an hour.

You know, at least an hour.

And, you know, if you gotta move a lot, it's hard.

The main goal is for, for the railroad to run trains, and at the same time we have to get our work done, and it's a little bit of a conflict and you just have to work with each other the best you can.

(saw grinds) - [Narrator] Once the weld gets down to 400 degrees, they do a rough grind to smooth the joint, followed by a finished grind.

(saw grinds) The final product is a slightly crested joint.

- [Tim] Ideally, you want it level across the weld with a little bit of peak yet, you know, and then that drops down to basically level.

If you grind it level, it'll probably be low in the morning.

So you want a little peak on there.

I'm signing my name, the weld number, rail temperature to the weld.

Same information will go in my welding report then that goes in the office.

(saw grinds) - [Narrator] Here, they repeat the process 28 times at every joint in the switch.

Ultimately, it makes stronger and safer tracks, and that's the point.

- [Tim] To run trains, a track, the structure has to be good, and it takes people like us, you know, I mean, welders, section men, you know, everybody, to keep the track the way it needs to be so they can run trains.

(upbeat music) (soft gentle music) (metal clanks) - 64 is powered at South Itasca.

- [Dispatcher] South Itasca.

Over.

64 is ready to pull.

Over.

- [Dispatcher] Straight up the main out of town.

- [John] Up the main on a departure.

Roger.

- [Dispatcher] Good afternoon, Al.

You say you're on the main?

- That's correct.

- [Narrator] Conductor Al Danischefsky and engineer John Woijak make local 64.

It's one of the Wisconsin Central's daily freight runs between Superior and Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Today's work includes stops at Gordon and Hayward Junction.

(siren blares) - [John] Today, starting out at Superior, we're just a little bit smaller than usual.

An average train would be about 25 to 30 cars, and then with our pickups en route we can get to about 100 cars when we arrive at Stevens Point.

- [Narrator] It's an uphill climb from the yard at South Itasca to the brim of the Lake Superior Basin.

The grade is fairly steep, 1.1%.

John Woijak has 25 years of experience on the railroad.

He says the keys to his success are an understanding family and the ability to focus on the job at hand.

- [John] If you're gonna do really well at it, you have to pretty much put everything into it.

It's that tough out here.

You have to abide by every rule and regulation.

One mental vacation and you got problems.

First form B is at 447.3.

You have to continually work back and forth.

He clears up the form Bs, talks to the foreman in charge, and all that.

And that leaves me to concentrate on running the train properly.

It's a back and forth thing in the cab all day long.

(train rumbles) - [Narrator] The Wisconsin Central is a young railroad.

It was formed in 1987 with tracks formerly owned by the Soo Line and others.

It's now the largest railroad in the state of Wisconsin.

At Hawthorne, the company added a new siding.

It gives nonstop freight runs a place to pass without getting caught behind slower moving traffic.

- If you get a local out in front of a road job, well, the road job knows what he's in for.

He is gonna watch us switch a bit, but that's where the dispatchers and network control comes into play.

And, and they try to avoid all that congestion and make sure that we follow the fleet.

Dispatcher at Stevens Point plays a big role in it, and has a lot to do with it.

A bad decision on his part can send the whole system tumbling.

Train crews have only 12 hours to make it from point A to point B, and if he doesn't do his part, we're dead on our hours.

And that's the term that's used.

And the first time you hear it, you've really gotta wonder what that's all about.

- [Narrator] At Gordon, Local 64 picks up five car loads of used ties.

- [Al] On this job, on 63 and 64, there's always work to do.

So I would rather get out and do a little bit of work.

If I had none, I'd rather do a little bit.

If you're gonna get a lot, you get a lot.

That's all there is to it.

It just goes with the job.

Right now I'm doing the safety and appliance inspection on it.

When we get it back on the train, I'll do the air test on it.

- [Narrator] Here again, communication between conductor and engineer is crucial.

- [Al] We have to have an understanding when we're doing our job, what he's gonna do and what I'm gonna be doing.

And seeing, I'll be outside, I gotta let him know even ahead of time what's gonna happen.

(metal clanks) (tires screech) Track 4365, October 19th, 1998, 7496 east at milepost 414.

Check line one, track warrant number 354 is void.

Check line two, proceed to milepost 414.0 to bigfoot on the main track.

- [Narrator] Crews have a chance to rebid their work assignments every four months.

They can change partners or change roots based on seniority.

This is the run of choice for a crew that likes the outdoors.

- [John] This is the north country for sure, and it's peaceful up here.

And then as you move further south in the state, it gets to be more hectic.

And you get all the way down to the Fox River Valley, it tends to really be hectic down there.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) - [Narrator] 20 miles down the track, the crew does more switching work.

This time picking up 20 cars and an engine at Cambridge Junction.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (train rumbles) - [Al] Here we are, we get the job done.

And once you start doing it and are successful at it, you tend to like it.

So here I am.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (train rumbles softly) (gravel crackles) (reverse beeping) - [Narrator] It's 8:00 AM on a subzero December morning, and Dennis MacKay is setting up his specially equipped truck to ride the rails.

MacKay is a track inspector for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and he's starting his run this day just outside the BNSF main yard in superior.

- Dispatcher, this is track inspector MacKay.

How does it look to get track and time on the number one main, starting at the westbound control signal 54 street, and then I'd like to work my way up to 59.

Over.

- [Dispatcher] Inspector MacKay, track and time authority 75,575 granted on main one O-N-E track.

- [Narrator] With the dispatcher's OK, MacKay drops the truck into gear and begins a hands-free run down BNSF's main route in Superior.

He's on the lookout for any problems on this heavily traveled stretch of track.

- [Dennis] Well, we're governed by federal guidelines as to what the standards for the railroad must be.

And those are the minimum standards which we have to abide by.

Inspectors of the railroad maintains the track above what the government requires.

And my job is to make sure that the track conforms to those standards.

They jokingly always say about, you know, track inspectors wouldn't find anything unless they fell in it, you know?

If there's a break, especially in cold weather, if there's a break, the rail's gonna pull apart, and you'll feel the bump.

But you're looking for telltale signs on the top of the rail.

If there's something that you find, you know, in inspection, you take the proper remedial action, which would be a slaughter or take it outta service and then repair it right then and there.

- [Narrator] On this double-tracked stretch of the BNSF main line, regulations require that MacKay stop his truck, get out, and wait a safe distance away whenever a train passes.

Empty taconite cars rush past traveling about 40 miles an hour.

That's a speed that doesn't sound very fast until you experience it up close and in person.

- [Dennis] It spreads a chill factor, doesn't it?

At first, I didn't know that I was gonna stay with the railroad.

You know, I was going to school at the time.

But then as I started to like the railroad more and more.

Dispatcher, this is MacKay at Doylestown.

How does it look to continue up to 59?

- [Dispatcher] Switch that line for your route there as well at main one.

Over.

- [Dennis] All right, may I have permission to hand operate it?

Over.

- [Dispatcher] Permission to hand operate the switch there at Doylestown to your route.

Over.

- [Dennis] Thank you, dispatcher.

Yeah, I like working outside.

I couldn't stand being pent up inside of a building all day long, you know, maybe working in just a small pod.

Also, in my job, because I'm not confined to one localized area.

I go to Duluth, I go to Superior, I go to Eloise.

So, I mean, I see different scenery every day.

(siren blares) - [Narrator] A Union Pacific Transfer train makes its way out of the Itasca yard in Superior with David Van Landschoot in the driver's seat.

He's got 32 years invested in railroading, 27 of them working as an engineer.

Today's mission is to exchange rail cars with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Canadian Pacific Railways.

- We're gonna go right to Duluth.

Right to Duluth across your swing bridge that you always wanted to see and to the Rice Point yard.

Set out there first and set up (indistinct).

(twangy music) - [Narrator] The UP uses the former Chicago and Northwestern route through Superior, including a long narrow bridge over the Nemadji River and neighboring marshlands.

The journey also crosses a set of railroad tracks owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

- Like a four-way stops sign on a highway.

(twangy music) - [Narrator] After rolling through a stretch of open grassland, Union Pacific trains move into the residential neighborhoods of Superior's East End.

The pace is a steady 10 miles an hour.

(siren blares) Through the course of the day's work, Van Landschoot runs his engine over tracks owned by three different railroads.

Coordinating and timing their shared use is sometimes tricky.

- [David] It must be indicated, of course, with a controller at the Grassy Point Draw.

He lets you across first, then the yard master controls you from the draw to Rice's Point.

You then go to the Soo Line and Soo Line controls us.

It's not easy not being your own boss.

I'm working here because I like doing it.

Most people I think do like it.

My advice to anyone who doesn't like what they're doing is find another job.

Terrible thing to come to work and not enjoy it.

This is fun.

UP transfer calling the yard master.

Can you set Rice's Point?

Over.

- [Dispatcher] Rice's Point.

Over.

- Coming down 21st west, we have the head.

Seven cars are for you.

Over.

- [Dispatcher] Seven cars, you can push them into 503.

- 503.

Roger.

Thank you.

It's just, the flip of the coin, if they're gonna be on the head end or the hind end and how many you have and how you do this.

Because sometimes we pull by and shove in, sometimes we head in depending on how much room they have and what's going on over here.

- [Narrator] In BNSF's Rice's Point Yard, Peter Salnick is prepared.

He's a foot forward yard master for the UP, regularly picks up switching duties along with his work in the yard office in Superior.

His experience shows as he directs his engineer with an economy of words and gestures.

(indistinct radio chatter) (twangy music) (train rumbles) - [Speaker] One UP.

- [Speaker] That'll do.

(twangy music) - [Narrator] The next stop is the CP rail yard on Rice's Point.

It's a short run that briefly puts the UP train under the authority of the Canadian Pacific.

- We're going to cut off the four cars with the Soo Line.

They're gonna pick them up and get rid of them.

- [Radio] What's the line for in the port?

- And we're gonna go back to the BN yard and pick up 24 cars here we created a list for, then go back to Itasca.

Sounds smooth but it should take us some time.

(twangy music) (train rumbles softly) (twangy music continues) - [Narrator] With its deliveries done, the crew returns to the BN yard where Salnick lines up the switches once again.

He's hooking up car loads of barley headed for a brewery in the Twin Cities.

(metal clanks) As he works, he's conscious of being on another road's property.

(twangy music) - [Peter] You do what you're told over there.

You don't just go do go where you please.

They tell you what track to go on.

That BN yard in Superior, they don't always give you a track to come back.

You gotta find one.

But if there's some place you're not supposed to be on, they'll tell you that.

"Don't go down that track."

Sometime, they give you a track to come back.

They all come out on the other end, so whatever one you find is fine, but, usually, they tell you where you're gonna go and where you're not gonna go, pretty much.

It's nice to walk around on a nice day, and it is nice to be out.

When it's raining, it's probably the worst.

Of course, when you're walking through three feet of snow, that's not so much fun either.

(twangy music) - [Narrator] The crew returns to Superior on the BNSF's west runner, taking in the scenery along the way.

(twangy music continues) - [David] Well, as you can see, I was enjoying the wildlife.

There are deer, bear, rabbits, squirrel, and people to watch.

It's just a fun thing to do.

- [Peter] This was kind of a quick shot of, you know, over there, and we can only work 12 hours.

I've gone to Duluth and back, didn't make it back in 12 hours.

I've left the engines over there.

They send an extra job over to relieve us or something like that.

But this was a pretty quick trip today.

- [David] I do have to watch this old retired gentleman here on the left.

He owns this house.

He's always out in his yard, and if he's out there, have to give him a highball.

He likes to wave to us.

(siren blares) Plus, it's a spectacular thing.

- [Peter] It's something that everyone should be able to come across on an engine or a train to see it.

I know there are excursion trains on occasion.

If someone has an opportunity to ride a train and see what we see, I really recommend it.

(train rumbles softly) (plume billows) - [Narrator] A plume of thick black smoke billows from old number 14 as it sits outside the depot in Two Harbors.

It's a classic steam engine operated by the North Shore Scenic Railroad.

It takes plenty of effort by the North Shore crew to keep old number 14 oiled, lubed, and fired up for runs between Duluth and Two Harbors, but it's worth the effort.

Iron horses like this one have kept America's love affair with trains burning for more than a century.

- [Fireman] We got a good head of steam.

- [Narrator] The North Shore Scenic Railroad's main line between Two Harbors in Duluth was purchased from the DM&IR railway.

Today, the track is owned by the St. Louis and Lake County Regional Rail Authority, which saved the track from being abandoned.

(train chugging) Engine number 14 is part of the collection at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth.

In 1993, she starred in the Disney movie "Iron Will."

The 90-ton locomotive was state-of-the-art in the early part of the 20th century.

- This engine was made in 1913.

It's a Baldwin, and it first worked up here on the logging railroad.

(train chugging) (train rumbles) - [Narrator] The fireman works to keep his balance in the cab as he stokes the firebox to keep up a good head of steam.

And the engineer has a daunting job controlling a multitude of levers and valves that speed up and slow down the locomotive.

- This is a throttle leveler.

This is the brake for the train brake.

And this is the independent for the engine brake.

- [Narrator] Despite the complexity of the engine and the plain old hard work of running it, this is a labor of love for the men who work on old number 14.

(whistle blows) - [Stuart] Wow, this is a lot of fun.

We all volunteer.

If you work on the equipment then you get to run it also.

(whistle blows) (whistle blows) (train chugging) (train rumbles) (gentle music) (gentle music continues) - [Narrator] One of the DM&IRS's best known and most scenic runs begins here in the Proctor rail yard.

(gentle music continues) Every day car loads of pellets from three different Iron Range taconite plants are gathered in the yard and hauled down the hill to dock six.

- [Dispatcher] Engine 414 (indistinct) Proctor, check line two proceed from milepost 101.0.

(indistinct radio chatter) - We're basically a yard job board.

Duties are to deliver the pellets that the road crews bring to Proctor.

We deliver them to the docks for unloading and we bring the empties back to Proctor.

- [Narrator] The number of engines used for the job depends on the weight of the train and the grade of the route.

Three and sometimes four engines make the trip from Proctor to the dock.

The engines haul the load on level ground and help with braking on the downhill.

The 10-mile run takes less than an hour.

At the Spirit Mountain Curve, the wooded rail corridor gives way to panoramic views of the St. Louis River and Lake Superior.

The 2.2% grade is among the steepest in the world, and it keeps the crew on their toes.

- [Elmo] This is a pretty typical run.

We make this three times a day, and it gives 140 cars from Proctor to the yard dock.

It was pretty uneventful, which is the way we like it.

- [Narrator] A crew of three is responsible for delivering cars to the dock: an engineer, a conductor, and a brakeman.

Each of them brings skill and experience to the job.

(upbeat music) - I've been employed by the DM&IR for 25 years.

I've been in engine service since 1979.

Hired out as a brakeman in 1973, and the opportunity went to become an engineer, and so I decided to do it.

Yeah, I like being a locomotive engineer.

It has its moments.

The weather conditions make the job a little bit more difficult, but on the whole, it's a challenging job.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] The round trip to the dock and back to Proctor is routine for this crew, and the scenery can't be beat.

(gentle music) (gentle music fades) (train rumbles softly)