I arose, uploaded the Grand Rapids story and sent Winston Walker an e-mail letting him know it was ready to proof. I had my last breakfast at the Best Western before checking out then at 8:05 AM, Yellow Cab picked me up and took me to Duluth Union Station. I was sixth in line and when it started to rain, the crew allowed us to board and I took my luggage with me aboard the parlour car "Braddock Inn", the same car I rode to Grand Rapids yesterday. Using my umbrella, I decided to take some pictures.
The BNSF Railway route between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Duluth/Superior is the last direct rail line between the two city pairs. When the BN merger took place in 1970, there were still four major routes: Chicago and North Western, Great Northern, Northern Pacific and the SOO Line. The Milwaukee Road also served the Twin Ports by a trackage rights agreement with the Northern Pacific. There is only one line still in use today and that is the former Great Northern route, now owned by BNSF Railway, the latter formed in 1995 by the merger of the BN and Santa Fe. The line to Duluth was built in two segments - from Hinkley to Superior in 1888/1889 by the Eastern Railway Company of Minnesota; and from Hinkley to Coon Creek Junction in 1899. The Eastern Railway Company of Minnesota was controlled by the Great Northern and was formally purchased by the Great Northern in 1907.
Under Great Northern operation, the line was equipped with automatic block signals and until 1970, sported twice-daily passenger service in each direction. The two pairs of passenger trains were named The Gopher and The Badger, for the state animals of Minnesota and Wisconsin. One pair was discontinued in 1970 by BN, while the other pair continuing until the advent of Amtrak on May 1, 1971. Amtrak and the State of Minnesota sponsored the Minneapolis-Superior- Duluth "Arrowhead", later renamed North Star, between 1975 and 1985. After the BN and Santa Fe merger, the route between the Twin Ports became BNSF's Hinkley Subdivison of the Minnesota Division based in Minneapolis.
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range SD18 316, nee Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range 186 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1960.
Great Northern SD45 400 Hustle Muscle, built by Electro-Motive Division in 1966, the first production SD45 built by EMD.
Erie Mining F9A 4211, ex. LTV Mining 4211, nee Erie Mining Company 101 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1956.
Looking towards our train.
The NRHS Twin Cities Limited sat ready to take us back to the Amtrak Midway Station in Minneapolis and had a consist of Amtrak P42DC 166, lounge car "Mount Vernon" 800708, "Kitchi Gammi Club" VRIC7 800705, Southern Pacific coach "Golden Sands" 800748, Southern Pacific coach "Golden State" 800881, Santa Fe lounge "Mojave", parlour car "Braddock Inn" 800854, New York Central parlour car 38 800655, Super Dome 800862 and "Cedar Rapids" 800040. Coach passengers such as myself had to board only the "Mojave", "Braddock Inn" or New York Central 38 as the Southern Pacific coaches were not being used on the journey to the Twin Cities.
I returned to the "Braddock Inn" and worked on numbering the pictures for several more Orange County Railway Historical Society programs. We departed on time and rode the same slow trackage out and across the Grassy Point draw bridge then rounded the tight curve in Superior, after which something caught my eye.
SOO Line 4435 and Canadian Pacific 4524 on an eastbound freight train.
SOO Line GP38-2 4435 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1979.
Canadian Pacific GP38-2 4524, ex. Union Pacific 955, exx. Union Pacific 91, nee Union Pacific GP40X 9001 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1978.
I worked as we made our way south just above Sandstone, the sky let loose. By Hinckley we were back to a little sunlight as we stopped to board the box salads for lunch but I continued working and finished about Coon Creek, when my laptop battery died. I changed plugs to the other side of the car and resumed. Now for a few pictures of where our rare mileage trip ended on the way to Duluth on August 11th.
East University is where we came through the switches to the usual route.
This is where the former Northern Pacific freight route takes off for St. Paul.
Van Buren is on the way to Midway Station.
A General Mills grain elevator.
Minneapolis Jct is the shop of Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 261 and here is Southern Pacific 4-8-4 4449's auxiliary water tender.
Friends of 261 lounge car "St. Croix Valley" PPCX 800628, ex. Georgia Southwestern lounge car 2003, exx. Amtrak 3101, exxx. Amtrak 3408, nee United States Army hospital car 89536 built by St. Louis Car Company in 1953. I rode in this car during Bart Jennings' rare mileage trip on the Georgia Southwestern Railroad in November 2005.
The shop building which is currently home to two 4-8-4's, Milwaukee Road 261 and Southern Pacific 4449.
The tenders for Milwaukee Road 261.
Minneapolis Jct before we reached Amtrak's Midway Station at 2:14 PM, ending our NRHS Convention trips.
The final views of the NRHS Twin Cities Limited.
An afternoon with Dennis LarsenI arranged with my friend Dennis Larsen, who lives in Minneapolis, to be picked up and taken anywhere so I would not have to spend nine hours sitting in the station waiting for the Empire Builder. I walked in and there was Dennis, who helped me carry my luggage to his car. We drove east through Stillwater into Wisconsin to the town of Somerset.
The Soo Line High Bridge, also known as the Arcola High Bridge, a steel deck arch bridge over the St. Croix River between Stillwater and Somerset. It was designed by structural engineer C.A.P. Turner and built by the American Bridge Company from 1910 to 1911. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 for its national significance in the themes of engineering and transportation.
This is the view looking the other way. We drove through Somerset then down to Hudson.
The former Chicago and North Western, now Union Pacific, bridge across the St. Croix River. Wee found a Dunn Brothers coffee shop which had wireless Internet that reached the parking lot so I was able to upload the corrections to the story that Winston Walker had proofed.
Our next stop was to see if we could find the St. Croix Miniature Railroad, which we did, but they were not open. From here we drove down to Prescott and followed the BNSF line down to Diamond Bluff, but alas, no trains were to be found. We crossed the Mississippi River to Red Wing and stopped for dinner.
The St. James Hotel in Red Wing. I looked around this historic building before Dennis and I had dinner at the Veranda Restaurant where I had a really good campfire steak as we enjoyed the afternoon breezes.
The view from below of the Veranda Restaurant.
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Red Wing station built in 1905, is on the National Register of Historic Places and serves Amtrak's Empire Builder.
One of several fiberglass sculptures created to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Red Wing Shoe Company. From here we drove back up to Hastings.
Canadian Pacific Railway GP40 4611, ex. SOO 2026, exx. Milwaukee Road 2025:2, ne Milwaukee Road 180:1 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1966 at Hastings.
Soo Line caboose 17 built by International Car in 1968. From here we drove by Milwaukee Road's Pigs Eye Yard and the Dayton Bluffs then into St. Paul, looking for University Avenue and the Amtrak station.
On the way there, we could easily see the Minnesota State Capitol. Dennis drove me back to the Amtrak station and I thanked him for spending an afternoon with me and it was now time to go into Midway Station to wait for the Empire Builder.
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