Iron Range: mining

Digger and truck
After explosions loosen the earth, diggers reminiscent of dinosaurs scoop up rocks and pile them into dump trucks.
Courtesy of United States Steel Corporation

Ask anyone who has lived near mines along the Iron Range about the sounds emitted, and they might give you a confused look.

Pulverizing crusher machines hum at all hours, trains rattle down the tracks day and night, and explosions shake giant rocks loose from the mine pits. To a visitor, each of these sounds on their own, might be cause for a minor heart attack. For long-time residents, however, they're just business as usual.

Aaron Brown has lived on the Range for most of his life. For him, listening to the rhythmic kuh-clunk of scheduled trains passing helps him know what time of day it is.

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