Quincy Smelter

And today we prove the possibility of taking an excellent photograph with an inexpensive camera....

Took this photo by pointing my camera out my hotel window in Houghton on the prettiest fall weekend I remember, in late September of 1990. The Keweenaw National Park was not "real" at this time but while we were in the vicinity we had some contact with the efforts which would create it.

The wreck of a building complex across the Portage River was the Quincy Copper Smelter in Ripley--it still stands, more or less, and folks still hope to restore it. That would be worthwhile, but I'll believe it when it happens. Like Cliffs Shaft Mine and Painesdale's Champion, these buildings were last fully active in 1967, but have not stood up nearly so well.

The ship in the foreground is Ranger III--transportation to Isle Royale National Park--and the buildings in the foreground are a part of that truly remote park.

I was in town for a meeting of the South Shore Special Interest Group (DSS&A SIG) of the Soo Line Historical & Technical Society, which was just forming at the time (the SIG, not the Society). We spent the weekend touring mining locations, looking over old rolling stock, and sharing stories. A good time.

This photo has often been mistaken for a model railroad picture. Nope: A photo from real life.

Camera: Minolta Freedom 100