Kodak Moment #16, The Fred R White Jr, and Mesabi Miner - Photo Jottings

Kodak Moment #16, The Fred R White Jr, and Mesabi Miner

Here are a couple of Kodak Gold 200 snaps I took back in 1999/2000 with the Minolta Maxxum 7000 and excellent Minolta  AF 35-70mm F/4 lens while on a trip to northern Michigan.

The two Ore carriers (Taconite) above were leaving the ‘Soo’ locks at the same time; you could hear the big throaty growl of the engines winding up, and see the churning water from the spinning props behind them.  It looks like the Mesabi Miner pulls a hole shot on the Fred R White Jr, both now hitting about 1 mph!  Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to linger and see who won the race to the St Mary’s river, and Lake Superior.  I’m guessing it took around 5 or 10 minutes to clear the locks.

The photos were taken in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan from a covered viewing platform for visitors that want to watch the ships pass.

In the far Poe lock, the Mesabi Miner is a great lakes self-unloading bulk carrier built in 1977, with a length of 1004′ 00″ (306.02m) and powered by 2 Pielstick 16PC2-2V-400 single acting, 4 stroke cycle V-16 cylinder 8,000 b.h.p. (5,968 kW) turbo-charged diesel engines.  The Fred R White Jr, (now American Courage) in the near MacArthur lock is also a bulk carrier, but much smaller at 636′ 00″ (193.86m) long, and powered by two 3,600 b.h.p. single-acting, two-stroke cycle, V-20 cylinder GM-EMD 20-645-E7 diesel engines.

Here is part of the viewing platform that overlooks the MacArthur lock; the Mesabi Miner is headed out the Poe lock.

That’s it for this 16th entry in the Kodak moment series, thanks for stopping by!

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