By Mary Drew at Pasty Central (Mdrew) on Monday, September 2, 2024 - 04:41 am:
In today’s first photo, Nancy Haun captured the Canadian National train passing by the Bishop Baraga Shrine sign in L’Anse, two of her passions...trains and the Bishop. So her mission was to try to capture a good PR photo for the shrine, of the Canadian National passing by the Bishop Baraga Shrine itself. The tracks go right behind the shrine, but are rarely used nowadays. Nancy said the train in the last three photos is a geometry train, which is one equipped with lasers and cameras that measures the track geometry, like alignment, curvature, rail gauge and profile and only checks the rails about once a year. She missed the train when it was here a couple weeks ago, but due to a computer glitch the line had to be rechecked and she was given a heads-up from a friend. So she was on hand, high on the hill. She didn’t get the exact photo she had hoped for because the train was so large, but I think they’re still pretty neat shots!
Nancy adds: “Many locals will remember the good old days when they could catch the train to the Copper Country or just back and forth between L'Anse and Baraga. Then think about Herman and Summit-back when the roads were mudholes much of the year-train travel was very often the only transportation that was reliable. A trip to the Copper Country for shopping or school was a common occurrence. It’s sad to see people so eager to pull up the tracks when trains played such a vital role in our beginnings here in Baraga County and the Copper Country! Can you imagine if Bishop Baraga would have had access to a train!”
Nancy also shares a video from a morning last week when she was at the Bishop Baraga Shrine checking out the grounds and flowers.
Happy Labor Day!
