Another great story of the history of the Great lakes and the boats that worked them. I look forward to the continuation of the story.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

I came across your channel in the recommendations and enjoy your story telling.

@authorwes

7 ай бұрын

Welcome aboard!

Great stuff! Thanks. R.I.P. to the Huletts. Progress always finds a way to go too far.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Couldn't agree more

We have six (and a half) of these ore cars where I work in Jamestown, California. They still have the holes in the side for steaming the ore. The Sierra Railway acquired them after the Great Northern began selling off their older ore cars. They were used out here for hauling gravel for dam construction.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Okay, now THAT is COOL

I always was curious about the Taconite that I heard about but never researched it, thank you for the great story and explanation.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Really cool explanation. I can’t imagine the Herculean effort of the men working on the early iron ore docks. As a child our family took a harbor tour on the Goodtime in Cleveland close to the iron ore dock. The boat got close enough to a working Hulett crane to see the operator and he waved to us on the Goodtime.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

SUPER memory!

That was a fascinating tutorial Wes! I had always wondered about how iron ore was loaded and unloaded and this answered all my questions. Thanks for researching and sharing this.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Excellent video as always, Wes. It's nice to learn about the history of loading and unloading of iron ore. You are kind of like "Paul Harvey" giving me the rest of the story that I've always wanted to know. I have a few of those red rocks myself, and they are just as dusty, lol. Hope you were able to get that out of your shirt in the laundry. Looking forward to the next video.... From Lansing, Michigan. Wishing you and your loved ones a great week.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Yep the dust washed right out. One thing I learned when I was out-stationed up on the iron rage is never take your white uniform shirts to the local laundry mat... they come out pink. The miner's work cloths are washed there and the ore dust is just trapped in the washers. I had to wear a worn uniform shirt for 4 trips before I got home to washed the ore out of my other shirts. They came out nice and white.

Very good history, Wes. Looking forward for the next one. Thanks.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

Exceptional video. So interesting. Thank you!

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Thank you too!

A real nice surprise. Enjoyed it.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

Very interesting subject, enjoy watching, learned a lot.

@authorwes

3 ай бұрын

Awesome, thank you!

Thankyou. Seriously the best video I’ve seen in a long time. And I’ve taken it all in. I was surprised and fascinated to see sailing ships moving ore. I never gave it a thought.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Wow, thank you!

Hi Wes. Really enjoyed this informative video. In an effort to learn more first hand about iron ore, last month I got in my car and drove from Columbus, Ohio to Hibbing, MN (located in the heart of the Mesabi Iron Ore Range). Visited several mines including the most awesome Hull-Rust mine. What a place! In addition to exploring by car, I pedaled most of the Mesabi bike trail which runs from Grand Rapids to Ely. To say the least, I know a great deal more about iron ore. A really neat happening was when I crossed an active rail line in Mountain Iron, MN while riding my bike. The entire road was covered with Taconite pellets which obviously flew of loaded rail cars. I took a handful home.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

I was based in HIB for 4 months. Had my bike there too. Did a lot of riding when the weather allowed. There are so many places out of the way to just "go" that sometimes you get the creepy feeling, "Maybe I shouldn't be here..."

@stantaylor3350

10 ай бұрын

You could have stopped at the Tiden mine in Ishpeming MI and toured it, also the working pocket dock in Marquette MI. Would have saved you 5 hrs of driving time. Copper mining in the Keweenaw peninsula is another rich history too. Calumet once had over 100 thousand residents. The Calumet opera house is still open.

@chuckg6039

10 ай бұрын

@@stantaylor3350 I've already been to all those places. Wanted to add Hibbing to my list. Also spent time in Duluth and Superior watching ships.

I REALLY enjoyed this video, Wes!! Great historical research, the photos must have been a bear to orient by locale, though. The magnetic pull on the compass was something I hadn't known about before, very cool bit of info! Not to add to your list of subject materials, yet was curious if you knew of or planned to do one on the Minnesota Iron Range as well.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it... I was based in Hibbing when I flew for NWAirlink... not really a place or time I wanna go back to. Good people- just not my kind of place.

@jamesthompson8008

10 ай бұрын

@authorwes LOL, yeah I understand that! I was born in Duluth & we lived just south of the Iron Range, so some sentimental historic interest. AND I agree after having been away for decades, no real interest in going back(long term anyway).

Walthers made an absolutely stunning HO scale model of the Hulett. Discontinued now, they fetch $300+ on eBay.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

My wife would kill me...

@johnstudd4245

10 ай бұрын

At some point they will start making them again.

@kaiyack

10 ай бұрын

@@johnstudd4245 we can only hope!

Great Video Wes! I've been watching for years and this is one of the best!

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Great to hear!

Wes great history. is the Hallett dock in Duluth actually Hullett? Docks and their history might make a great video as well. Also the grain elevators. I worked for ADM at the Great Northern Elevator in Superior and that elevator has great history with rope driven shippers etc. thanks!

Always learn a lot from your videos, Wes. Thanks for being a fountain of Great Lakes information.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

My pleasure! I try not to gurgle.

Excellent video Wes! really enjoyed it, and look forward to the Hulett one. Thanks and Cheers!

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Awesome, thank you!

Thanks Wes, nice easy to follow history.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

You're very welcome

I've done it again, first to arrive at a new Wes video. While I'm here enjoying this I'll mention that just last weekend I toured the William Irvin in Duluth, MN and it was fantastic. Saw the Glensheen Mansion too, so if any boat nerds are in the area, add that to your list. Thanks.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Cool!

Thanks for sharing another great story about the ore industry. I will add it to my play list and at our museum. ☺

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

You have my permission.

@grandpachoochoo5301

10 ай бұрын

Thanks

Nice job.

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Thank you! Cheers!

Interesting

Wes, several books listed as out of stock on your website…any idea when they’ll be back?

Thank you for your video. I spend great deal of time at Wendy Beach near the Cleveland Bulk Terminal. They unload and load mostly taconite at this facility and some limestone. My question is where do they deliver the HBI product from the Cleveland Cliffs plant in Toledo? Do they take that directly to the mills or do they warehouse it at different place than the Bulk therminals on the great lakes?

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

Don't know for sure. You may want to go on the Boatnerd Facebook site and ask.

👍

And you didn’t even make it to Greek Town!

Funny that we wouldnt smelt the iron closer and ship coal further....

@authorwes

10 ай бұрын

In the early days the steel mills were in central PA and the railroads connected them to the Lake Erie shore at Ohio ports. The coal was mined in south central states, but was needed in the upper lakes and the railroads connected at western Lake Erie ports- so that how the stage was set.

@NickFortier

10 ай бұрын

@@authorwes makes sense. There was a foundry in my town until the 90s where they used to make props and anchors. It was a huge building. Across the sound, Russell Brothers had their yard. There's a small peninsula made from slag ( well, probably 1000 ft long) and there's still large oak beams that were the slips that protrude into the depths.

@edstuff1198

10 ай бұрын

@@authorwes Thanks for the great informative video. As a native of Erie, PA, I remember the ore carriers wintering in the middle of Presque Isle Bay in the 1960s-'70s. I also remember when Litton Industries built their facility in Erie to build the 1000' Stewart J. Cort and the barge portion of the 1000' barge/tug Presque Isle. (The tug was built elsewhere.) The former Litton dry dock is now the home of Donjon shipbuilding and repair. One small correction on your comment above. Pittsburgh, PA once a steelmaking giant is located in southwest Pennsylvania, not far from Ohio and West Virginia. There isn't much of anything of note in the middle of Pennsylvania with the exception of Penn State University in State College, and Altoona which was once a hub of locomotive repair activity for the Pennsylvania RR. Other than that the middle of the state is mostly forest, farms, and small towns. I am looking forward to the video about the Hullett unloaders.