What’s with the new rail cars?!

Those are some sort of industrial equipment used in refining oil. Probably going to the Alberta tar sands.

@cb1037 Thanks! Alas, I was hoping it would be something more exciting.

I have it from good sources that those are filled with a delicious maple syrup/ cocaine mix straight from Nova Scotia! However, they're all destined for the UP as tourists go wild for that stuff.

From the Duluth News Tribune: 
Rockets? Tanks? What were those cylinders?

Adele Yorde, spokeswoman for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said the strange-looking items were "pressure vessels" bound for the tar sands region of Alberta, Canada.

The vessels are used during the refining process as heavy crude oil is turned into gas, diesel and other products. Simply put, they're used to keep liquids or gases at a pressure significantly different than the surrounding atmosphere.

I learned that actually, these pressurized passenger compartments are to be used to transport families to the new undersea colonies off the coast of Alaska! They've been in testing in Lake Superior for a few years.

Oops, I've been corrected... They're full of toothpaste.