Lake Superior & Ishpeming #2026

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Jeffrey LentzDecember 18, 2023

Lake Superior & Ishpeming #2026

Boxcar, builder ????, ca. 1910

LS&I #2026 upon delivery at North Freedom, July 19, 2007. Jim Connor photo.

LS&I boxcars #2026 (behind locomotive) and #2011 upon delivery at North Freedom, July 19, 2007. Jim Connor photo.

Two LS&I boxcars arrive on three semis from Ishpeming, MI on July 19, 2007.

Boxcar #2026 was built around 1910 for one of the Pennsylvania Lines as a class XL boxcar. It was acquired second hand by the Lake Superior & Ishpeming (LS&I) prior to 1926. Additional research is planned to uncover the original car number and build date.

Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad still operates out of Marquette, Michigan hauling iron ore from mines to Great Lakes ships.

LS&I boxcars #2026 and #2011 were transported to Mid-Continent Railway Museum in 2007 after museum volunteers had located them in Upper Michigan a few years prior and targeted them for preservation. The two cars had been privately owned and stored on an isolated piece of track behind the original LS&I depot in Ishpeming, MI for 40 years. While #2011 was purchased by Mid-Continent, #2026 is privately owned by a museum member. Both cars were intact and in good condition. The two boxcars were transported to the museum aboard three flatbed trailers, arriving on July 19, 2007.

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Lake Superior & Ishpeming #2011

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Jeffrey LentzMay 7, 2023

Lake Superior & Ishpeming #2011

Boxcar, Pressed Steel Car Co, July 1901

LS&I #2011 upon delivery at North Freedom, July 19, 2007. Jim Connor photo.

LS&I boxcars #2026 (behind locomotive) and #2011 upon delivery at North Freedom, July 19, 2007. Jim Connor photo.

A crane unloads LS&I boxcar #2011 at North Freedom on July 19, 2007. Jim Connor photo.

Two LS&I boxcars arrive on three semis from Ishpeming, MI on July 19, 2007.

This 34 foot long, 30 ton capacity boxcar is the oldest known Lake Superior & Ishpeming (LS&I) freight car in existence. It was built for the Marquette & South Eastern, a predecessor to LS&I, by the Pressed Steel Car Co. in July 1901.

Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad still operates out of Marquette, Michigan hauling iron ore from mines to Great Lakes ships.

LS&I boxcars #2011 and #2026 were transported to Mid-Continent Railway Museum in 2007 after museum volunteers had located them in Upper Michigan a few years prior and targeted them for preservation. The two cars had been privately owned and stored on an isolated piece of track behind the original LS&I depot in Ishpeming, MI for 40 years. Both cars were intact and in good condition. The two boxcars were transported to the museum aboard three flatbed trailers, arriving on July 19, 2007.

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Lake Superior & Ishpeming #64

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Pat WeedenJune 3, 2025

Coach, Hicks Locomotive & Car Works, June 1910

#64, December 1984. Bill Buhrmaster photo

#64, December 1984. Bill Buhrmaster photo.

M&HM #64 (ex-LS&I #64) at Marquette, MI, 1966, MCRM collection

#64 at Marquette, MI, October 5, 1957. Bill Buhrmaster collection.

The Hicks Locomotive and Car Works of Chicago Heights, Illinois built this wooden coach for the Munising Railway as their #64 in May of 1910. The Munising Railway Company was a shortline formed in 1895 and operated two rail lines, one running from Princeton to Munising, and a second from Stillman to Cusino, all in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Munising Railway was later absorbed into what became the Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad in 1923. At that time, #64 came under LS&I ownership, retaining its original number. Passenger service ended on the LS&I in 1929, and #64 was retained for work service. In 1964, it was sold to Marquette & Huron Mountain, a tourist railroad located at Marquette, Michigan. In 1985, it was purchased by Mid- Continent and moved to North Freedom with other equipment acquired from the now-defunct M&HM. #64 is presently stored for future restoration.

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Lake Superior & Ishpeming #1

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Pat WeedenMay 7, 2023

Combination Car, Pullman Palace Car Co., Lot 2325, Plan 1079, 1898

#1 in steel enclosure to protect it from the elements while awaiting restoration, April 26, 2013.

#1 at North Freedom, April 28, 2001.

#1 at North Freedom, June 1987. Paul Swanson photo

#1 builders photo at Pullman plant, 1898. Smithsonian

LS&I #1 was built by Pullman Palace Car Co. in 1898 as a combination baggage-coach for the Upper Michigan railroad. It served in passenger service some thirty years, being renumbered to #15 sometime along the way. About 1930, it was transferred to the B&B (Bridges & Buildings) Dept. of the railroad, renumbered again to #XB-15, and used as a paint car to store materials (the car would be taken out on the line with a paint gang that would paint structures such as depots). Since the 1950s, the car had sat at the LS&I’s Marquette, Michigan yard, used for storage. In 1969, the railroad wished to dispose of it, and old #XB-15 was sold to Mid-Continent. It was loaded onto Soo Line flatcars and shipped to North Freedom where it was back on its own wheels by that November.

The car’s fragile state led to it being stored inside the Car Shop in more recent years. However, with Car Shop floorspace needed for other projects, LS&I #1 became the subject of an experiment in preservation techniques at Mid-Continent in 2013. Rather than rely on a tarp to protect the car during it’s time of outdoor storage, a temporary enclosure of donated steel siding and roofing was affixed directly to the car body, giving the apperance of a shed on wheels. With this added protection, the car should weather its period of outdoor storage well while awaiting funding for its eventual restoration.

The LS&I Railway Company was formed in 1892 and completed a line from Presque Isle, Michigan (just north of Marquette) to Ishpeming in 1896. One year later, a wooden ore dock was opened in Presque Isle harbor to load iron ore into great lakes ships. In 1923, a neighboring railroad, the Munising Marquette and Southeastern, was merged into LS&I for a total 173 miles trackage. Passenger service ended in 1929. The core route of the LS&I still is in use today, hauling iron ore pellets from the Empire Mine to the ore dock at Presque Isle harbor.

#1’s interior, builders photo, 1898. Pullman builders photo; Paul Swanson collection

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Lake Superior & Ishpeming #22

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Pat WeedenJune 4, 2021

2-8-0, American Locomotive Co., construction #46944, 1910

LSI& #22 at Mid-Continent, Nov., 2014. Chris Salmonson photo.

#22 with restored tender, October 2001. Bill Buhrmaster photo.

LS&I #22 served her entire life in the Marquette area of the upper peninsula of Michigan. She was built by the Pittsburgh works of American Locomotive Company for the Marquette & Southeastern as their #38 in 1910.

#22 under restoration in April 2000. Paul Swanson photo.

One year later, the M&SE became the Munising Marquette & Southeastern, and she retained her number 38. In 1924, MM&SE was merged into the Lake Superior & Ishpeming, and she became LS&I #22. The LS&I was based at Marquette, Michigan where ore was delivered to a dock for loading into Great Lakes ships.

#22 under restoration, May 20, 1995. Bill Buhrmaster photo.

In 1963, LS&I #22 was sold, along with many other LS&I locomotives, to a local tourist line called Marquette & Huron Mountain. #22 worked in service for M&HM during 1964-65 (her final run was on Labor Day of 1965).

#22 at Marquette, MI, November 9, 1969. Ted Ellis photo.

In 1984, M&HM suspended operations, and their equipment was sold at auction. #22 and sister #29 were purchased by Mid-Continent members and moved to North Freedom along with several cars. #22 is currently under restoration by its owners. Boiler work has been completed except for new tubes to meet FRA regulations.