Soudan Underground

8/15/2019

Lake Vermilion was a relaxing and quiet place to spend the night in preparation for an exciting day of exploring beneath the earth.

Only fifteen minutes away, Soudan Underground Mine State Park was waiting for us. These three towers link the winch to the mineshaft.

The iron cage that carried us down is set at a slight angle so gravity helps keep the car on the track.  Prior to a need for social distancing, our group all squeezed into the cage. A quick ringing bell echoed our destination to the winch operator just before we accelerated downward into darkness.

Two thousand three hundred forty-one feet below the surface we slowed to a stop and safely stepped out of the cage. 

 Looking like a science fiction movie set, we weren't heading into an iron mine. We were about to enter the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS) experimental area.

Yesterday, when we went to sign up for a tour, we noticed that there were two; a "mine" tour and a "science" tour. Surprise, surprise, we signed up for both.

Surrounded by 2.7 billion year old Greenstone, this experimental area was created by removing 50,000 tons of rock.

Neutrinos sent from 450 miles away at Fermilab near Chicago were detected in this laboratory. Active from 1999-2014, the lab is now decommissioned. A huge mural by Joseph Giannetti contains elements symbolizing the formation and expansion of the Universe, the history of neutrinos and the scientists who have been involved in the search to understand them.

Another mind-expanding hour ended as we rode the cage back to the surface.  

Back up top, we walked over to the building where the cage operator controlled the huge winch that safely spooled the half mile of cable in and out at one thousand feet per minute.

Looking a little ominous, the cage awaited our next tour, a visit to the actual iron mine.

Part of a much larger group this time, we landed at a train station deep within the earth.

Just as miners did for over a hundred years, we rode the rails outward from the main shaft.

Our guide had worked as a miner here and gave us an appreciation for the labor involved. With the electric lights out, he told stories by candle light of the hardships and dangers facing the workers that carved iron ore out of these depths.  

After being winched back to the surface Beth sat in the shade while I explored the transportation equipment. 

Below the cage, a "skip" brought the ore to the surface in six ton increments. A short electric railroad delivered the ore in an oval route to be dumped...

...into a crusher. The ore then fell a level for another short ride.

These tiny cars shifted the ore out on this iron bridge...

...where unique cars acted as chutes...

...dropping the iron ore into waiting heavy duty hopper cars. Assembled into trains, these cars delivered the ore to the town of Two Harbors where it was loaded into ships for transport to smelters in Michigan.

The State of Minnesota has done a wonderful job maintaining this site in a condition where people can experience a little of what it was like to work in an iron mine and explore the physics of neutrinos.

Passing this little guard shack as we exited the park, I snapped a photo in case we ever want to build a model for our garden railway back home.

We spent the remainder of the day exploring the pretty shores of lake Vermilion. That led us into the nearby city of Tower (pop. 500) where white chocolate raspberry scones and cookies called to us from Sulus Espresso Cafe on Main Street. After getting our bakery fix we found a small, free, Duluth, Missabe, & Iron Range Railroad museum in a preserved passenger station. 

Evening had us back at Lake Vermillion State Park. We showered at the really nice new bathhouse and made dinner. Walking down to the boat launch at sunset we met some kids catching crayfish. We highly recommend this State Park for a stay whether you are enjoying the lake, descending into the earth, or both!