The Western Elevator’s old moniker looks over Fort William (the neighborhood). Snow falls over Mount McKay in the background. This elevator is still active… the only active elevator in Fort William proper.
history under ground
trains
This was taken before the top of the docks really started to rot-out; now this stretch past the crane is distinctly unsafe to cross. Still, you can’t beat the view of Dock #2 winding into the distance, where the approach is chopped-off before the yard used to extend.
General Mills bought Consolidated Elevator’s “D” in 1943 and renamed it “A,” though no additional elevators have followed from that firm to date. Visible on the right is the first annex, built along with the elevator in 1909.
The Calumet Elevator offices used to be flanked on both sides by rails. Now, only one side has engines running on it.
A heavy steel rail door to help funnel explosions upward, rather than outward.
Purina Demolition
The main rail artery for Thunder Bay passes Ogilvie’s.
An elevator is reflected in the flooded footprint of Spencer & Kellogg. These trains are in storage for the winter.
Kurth looks toward the city that forgot it.
A ‘Hot Metal Car’ that would transport molten steel across the ‘Hot Metal Bridge’ from the furnaces to the mills.
Looking out of Kurth Malt a the neighbors–the silos past Electric Steel are those of the Froedert Malt Company, now gone.
A diesel engine on display at Deer Lodge, circa 1961.
A panorama of the dock buildings, before the left one was demolished.
A dedicated 13-acre rail yard operated by Canadian Pacific. As of 2016, it’s still there, and considered a factor in the redevelopment of the former plant site.
The Port Arthur elevator row, as seen from the edge of Fort William.
A train idles beside the Calumet offices. Pentax 67 Medium Format
Only two machines sit on the rails in the roundhouse, both oil cars. It’s not clear whether there’s anything inside either, but they have to have been placed here before 1970, when the turntable outside these numbered doors was removed.
An engine on display outside the Montana Territorial Prison in Deer Lodge, MT. This was a typical electric locomotive used by The Milwaukee Road.
Looking toward Fort William (Western) Elevator from the top of Superior Elevator. Fort William is bordered on the south and east by this wide, winding railyard. Note the pretty and quaint brick offices of the Western.
Scanned after being recovered from the bottom of an old wooden box for a few years. Circa 2005. The only photo I have showing the steam locomotive out front.
Calumet stands at the side of the Union Pacific railyard.
A twin-engine crew pushes full taconite cars onto Dock 6.
A passing cloud almost looks like a puff of smoke from the trimmed smokestack of Consolidated D. In the lower corner you can see a little Stonehenge that someone with a sense of humor and heavy equipment built.
An abandoned ranch on the east side of the tracks. This was not the Colmor Cutoff they were waiting for.
Some sort of materials handling building, judging by the construction.
Another. Planet. Coal crushers and the coke loading line.
I love the ghost sign across these two elevators, originally built as Superior Elevator. It’s looking pretty rough.
Looking at The Windy City from the top of the coal tower. The pond you see is the former ACME Coke coal yard.
A diesel crane and conveyor belt tripper are the major pieces of equipment that dominate the dock.
ADM overshadows the Meal Elevator. The cleared area behind is now home to Surley Brewery.
Just across the North Dakota border, a rusty Milwaukee Road boxcar sits where it was shoved off the mainline. The grain elevator in the background marks the tracks, which is still used by BNSF.
The main street of the ghost town is also the maintenance road for the BNSF line that bisects Colmor.
One of many photos pasted to the walls of the ADM-4 workhouse. This shows a minor derailment near Spencer Kellogg & Sons’ linseed oil factory.
Looking out of the American diesel crane at the gantry crane that ran the length of the dock.