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Truly the Early Bird

The early bird catches the worm, but it is the second mouse who gets the cheese! :)

Mornin'

Good Morning, hope everyone has a good time in Marquette this weekend for FINN-FEST!!!!

Good morning everyone. I took the dogs outside this morning and had to look twice, because I saw a school bus going down the street. What is it with cutting summer vacation short for kiddies..that's not fair. When my daughter was young, I don't know who looked more forward to her summer vacations from school...her or me. ;)

Great news! If you have Direct TV you can catch Michigan Magazine on channel 379...or channel 9409 on Dishnet Network...or channel 78 on Mediacom. I sat down last night and watched Michigan Magazine for the first time in five years.

My thanks to Derek for info on the Soo Line and the Gladstone
yards. But why would ore be hauled by rail all the way from the
Tilden Mine to the Soo, Ontario? I hate to expose even more of
my ignorance, but why wouldn't that ore be shipped to
Marquette , loaded on a boat, and shipped that way to the Soo?
Seems like that would be cheaper. Or are those ore docks in
Marquette both inoperative or not fitted to handle taconite?
Here's hoping Derek is still tuning in to the Pasty line.

sur5er,thanks for the tip. I checked channel 379 and I can get Michigan Magazine here on Saturday mornings. I look forward to it!
We have a nice morning here and I hope it is great wherever you are! Have a super day.

For all of you that may not look back at the previous days postings, Rick Anderson, from Skypixs and Neil Harri both sent in aerial pictures of the Rice Lake fire. They were posted on yesterday's What'sUP page. Here's a link to several more pictures from Rick's gallery: Rick's view of the fire.

What is going on with the fire, did they get it under controll?

To answer your question Charles, the ore is hauled by boat. The LS&I RR hauls ore from the mines to the Marquette Ore Dock where it is shipped mostly to Algoma Steel in the Soo or to mills in Detroit. The CN(former WC) hauls ore to the Escanaba Ore dock where it is shipped mostly to lower Lake Michigan Ports. On top of that there are the CN/WC trains that haul ore all the way to Algoma. These are called All-Rail trains. Primarily they are used in the winter when lake shipping is iced in, but there are a couple of daily trains that run in the summer too. Hope this helps. If your interested, at www.michiganrailroads.com there is a message board dedicated to rail operations in the U.P.

Quick question on yesterdays weather, how bad was everybody hit? Also, did it help put out the fire? We had storms here in East Central WI but all we received was sprinkles and a pretty light show. sur5er, pool arrives on Friday! Now what do I do with the other one....

Update on the fire from today's Daily Mining Gazette:

Blaze nearly contained
By GARRETT NEESE, Gazette Writer

RICE LAKE - The Rice Lake fire that consumed nearly 390 acres is expected to be under control by the end of the day.

The fire is 80 percent contained, said Ann Wilson, the Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman in Marquette.
The remaining 20 percent is located on marshland north of Deer Lake, which has been difficult to access, Wilson said. Crews will attempt a handline around the area.

The DNR announced the 389-acre figure after GPS mapping Tuesday. The announcement continued the downward trend in estimates, which had gone from 700 to 800 acres Monday night to 500 on Tuesday morning.

The fire is the second-largest in Michigan this year. In April, a Roscommon County fire burned 1,557 acres.

At 3 p.m. Tuesday, the DNR lifted an evacuation order for 100 residents. The order had been in place for the past day. In the meantime, most residents had sought their own temporary shelter, aside from four who were placed by the Red Cross. Parts of Rice Lake, Lake Linden-Gay, and Big Traverse Bay roads are still off-limits to non-residents.

No buildings have been harmed by the fire. So far, two firefighters have been treated for heat exhaustion.

The fire began at noon Monday on Houghton County land adjacent to a berry farm. DNR officers will be investigating the origin site today for clues to the fire's cause. Ann Wilson said the most likely cause is lightning, but that no definitive source has been established. Five volunteer fire departments remained on the scene Tuesday in addition to seven DNR units. On Monday, 10 DNR units and 14 volunteer fire departments had been on the scene, including Bootjack, Lake Linden and Lac La Belle.

Dean Wilson said the equipment used was the same as on Monday, with the exception of an additional vehicle - a converted armor troop carrier, which he said had been used in the Korean War.
"We're having trouble with swamp marsh ground on the north ... " he said.

William A. Rice/Daily Mining Gazette

Thanks for the update on the fire. Pictures were facinating but also cause remorse.