In 1954 the Erie Mining Company built a 74-mile private railroad from Hoyt Lakes to Taconite Harbor to serve the taconite mines in that area. The first train ran in 1957. In 1956, the company purchased five F9A and Six F9B diesel units. This purchase was unusual for the mid-1950s, as most railroads no longer purchased "streamlined" type diesels, instead buying road switchers, which were easier for switching operations. When #4211 was built in May 1956, it was numbered as #101 and in Erie Mining Company's blue and silver paint scheme. The locomotive cost $189,262. It, along with the other F9 units wore the blue and silver scheme until 1963, when they were repainted into the yellow and maroon scheme it still wears today, in 1970, Erie Mining #101 was renumbered 4211. In 1975, 4211 and the other streamlined diesels had black painted on their roofs. By the 1990s these Erie Mining streamlined locomotives were the last of their type still in revenue freight service, as most other railroads retired streamlined diesels. In 1986, LTV Steel Corporation received ownership of the Erie Mining Company, it operated until bankruptcy in 2000. In 2001 Erie 4211 along with a few other units pulled the last train of pellet chips. After its last run, 4211 and B unit 4222 were donated to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum.
Historical significance
4211 was the last streamlined diesel locomotive in regular freight service in the United States.
Present-day operations
Erie Mining 4211 sees occasional use on the North Shore Scenic Railroad but is limited due to its inability to operate backwards on its own. Often 4211 runs excursions coupled back-to-back with Soo Line 2500, another streamlined diesel. Erie Mining 4211 was not one of the locomotives featured at the "Streamliners at Spencer" event in 2014. However, Soo Line 2500 was, and after Soo Line 2500 returned from the event, Soo 2500 and Erie Mining 4211 powered many excursions from July through October 2014, the most active season of either locomotives. In 2015, much of the locomotive's outer paneling was removed and replaced. It is expected to undergo a full exterior repaint in the near future. It will be freshly repainted in the yellow and maroon scheme it currently wears.
