This is one of the few remaining rock cars of the Quincy & Torch Lake Railroad. This is one of the "Z" braced cars that was used to haul copper ore from the Quincy mine on top of the hill above Hancock, Michigan to the stamp mill on the shore of Torch lake, about 4-5 miles away. These cars were built before 1900 and hauled ore on the 3 foot gauge railroad until operations ended at the end of world war 2 when the mine shut down.
This picture was taken by me several years ago.
Steepshot
With modern trucks, we so easily forget how important railways were to building our infrastructure.
The narrow guage railroad was cheaper and more effective than any road. As in, it carried loads that were far heavier than any dirt or paved road could provide. And it did it for hundreds of years.
Yes, even the narrow gauge railroads could carry a lot more raw material than trucks, even in the 1930s when truck technology was getting better.