It's a Mystery to Me

The words on the back of this post card: “MINNESOTA VALLEY TRANSPORTATION CO. Minnesota Valley’s Unit Number 281, an EMD GP-9 Unit, built in 1959, is viewed on January 5, 1985 while making a test

run on the Indiana Harbor Belt prior to being delivered to her new owners at Morton, Minnesota.” I have searched and searched for the Minnesota Valley Transportation Company and have found nothing with a direct reference to it. I cannot share any information, because I do not have any. One would think that something big enough to have train tracks and a locomotive would show up in a search. I got crickets; it is a mystery to me!!! The Minnesota Valley Transportation Co. is the new owner; I could find some details about the previous owner: The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad. The information is taken directly from their own website; they still exist!! https://ihbrr.com/about-us The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (IHB) was established in 1907 from several smaller systems operating around Chicago, with its earliest predecessor being the East Chicago Belt Railroad, which began operations in 1896. Following the loss of a lease by the Chicago Junction Railway in 1907, the East Chicago Belt acquired interests in the Chicago, Hammond & Western and Terminal Railroads, forming the foundation of the IHB. Today the IHB is the largest switch carrier in the United States, featuring 54 miles of mainline track—24 miles of which is double track—and 266 miles of yard and siding track. We offer a diverse range of services, including industrial switching for 160 customers, resulting in 170,000 carloads annually. We interchange daily with 16 other rail carriers in Chicago and operate a growing fleet of approximately 1,400 freight cars, primarily serving the steel industry.

The photo on this post card was taken by Thomas J. Golden and the card was published by Mary Jayne’s Railroad Specialities. We have seen many of her published post card in this blog site.