The Man Car

Also known as the Miner’s Car, the Worker’s Car or the Bar Car, The Man Car was used in the open pit mines, like a bus, trolley or streetcar, to transport men to their work stations. The Man Car was also used as a break room, a place to eat lunch, socialize and warm up during a work day.

In the early days of the mining industry there were open pit—not underground—mines. Every morning, before their 7:30-4:30 shift started, miners would check in at the company Mine Office and then board the mine company-owned Man Car. The Man Car would proceed on train tracks around the mine and drop off at the miners at the various job sites in the open pit.  Forty-six men could sit on the benches; others held onto the leather straps until they got to the work site.  The stove in the center of the car was coal fired and kept the Man Car warm on cold Minnesota mornings.

Once aboard the Man Car, each miner checked the windowed box on the wall which held the daily job list and the workers assigned to those tasks. The miner’s wages would start when they got to the work site, not when they entered the car.

The ca. 1930s 23-ton Man Car was donated in 1980 to the Tower Soudan Historical Society by U.S. Steel through the efforts of Randy Moody and Darwin Mickle of Tower, Minnesota.  It was delivered to its current site in the 1980’s on special trucks from the Minntac plant in Mountain Iron.

A train car restoration process was started in the summer of 2008 by a group of volunteers from Tower, Soudan and Lake Vermilion.  The restoration project would eventually be completed by more than 32 volunteers over a period of 3 years of volunteer time. Grants from the IRRR and the Ely Area Community Foundation enabled the volunteers to purchase material from local businesses.

Coached by local painting professional, Don Sederstrom, the volunteers hand-sanded and cleaned the exterior and also sanded, primed and painted the metal exterior, windows, end rails and trim pieces. During the summer of 2011, the windows were replaced, doors were refinished and the ceiling was sanded and repainted.  New leather straps were made and, under the direction of Steve Abrahamson, Tower Mayor at that time, tongue and groove boards for the inside of the Man Car were purchased.

After that, the project stalled for lack of a volunteer carpenter to finish the inside. However, a new team was recruited by Don Sederstrom. The two-man team of Jerry Bergin and Brian Martinson worked from May into July of 2014 patching the metal exterior, replacing the rotted boards in the threshold, caulking the windows and paneling the inside.  In time, Brian’s wife, Lannie Martinson and Jerry’s wife, Joanne Bergin, joined the effort as well as their friends, Mike and Edie Taapa.

The Tower-Soudan Historical Society maintains the Man Car, along with the other train cars, which are all a part of the Train Depot Museum in Tower, Minnesota.