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Title: |
Rails Left In Pavement |
Description: |
Looking across County 41 down towards Cy's Bar and Grill across County 41 on the now torn-up downtown Chaska line. Note the rails left in the pavement. |
Photo Date: |
10/22/2011 Upload Date: 10/22/2011 9:49:18 PM |
Location: |
Chaska, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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143 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
The Former Cy's Crossing |
Description: |
The former pedestrian crossing for Cy's Bar and Grill retains crossbucks and even bits of rail. |
Photo Date: |
10/22/2011 Upload Date: 10/22/2011 10:15:00 PM |
Location: |
Chaska, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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129 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Gouged Out Rails At North Pine Street |
Description: |
The salvagers aren't letting a piece of rail get away from them, it seems. Sad. Crossing is next door to Chaska Mill downtown. |
Photo Date: |
10/22/2011 Upload Date: 10/22/2011 10:15:18 PM |
Location: |
Chaska, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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108 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Pile Of Dirt And Crossbucks |
Description: |
Dirt pile is from North Pine Street rail removal project. Crossbucks in mid-background are for said crossing. One in far background is for North Cedar Street. Ones in foreground for pedestrian crossing for Cy's Bar and Grill. Note how the one on the right still retains its UP emergency contact plate! |
Photo Date: |
10/22/2011 Upload Date: 10/22/2011 10:22:22 PM |
Location: |
Chaska, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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107 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Dismantling The Louie |
Description: |
Just across north pine street this scene was found by me this day. Sad. |
Photo Date: |
10/22/2011 Upload Date: 10/22/2011 10:22:44 PM |
Location: |
Chaska, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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143 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Flatcars to Flatbeds |
Description: |
Old rail pulled up from the former Louie main in downtown Chaska rests next to a flat bed trailer. Crossing in background is for North Cedar Street. |
Photo Date: |
10/22/2011 Upload Date: 10/22/2011 10:23:16 PM |
Location: |
Chaska, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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118 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Where The Interurban Used To Call |
Description: |
The sign says it all at the former TCRT depot in Como Park. Historic depot is in the background. |
Photo Date: |
10/29/2011 Upload Date: 10/29/2011 7:06:26 PM |
Location: |
Saint Paul, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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69 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Former Pedestrain Crossing |
Description: |
People used to walk over the TCRT tracks on this bridge. Now the rails below are gone and the bride is closed and in disrepair. Fix that thing, City of Saint Paul! |
Photo Date: |
10/29/2011 Upload Date: 10/29/2011 7:13:46 PM |
Location: |
Saint Paul, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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79 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
From Passengers To Event Goers |
Description: |
The TCRT depot at Como Park is now used for special events, as the patio which occupies where the platform once was. |
Photo Date: |
10/29/2011 Upload Date: 10/29/2011 7:13:17 PM |
Location: |
Saint Paul, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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79 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Lexington Parkway Bridge |
Description: |
This historic structure still carries Lexington Parkway over the TCRT right-of-way now occupied by bike paths. |
Photo Date: |
10/29/2011 Upload Date: 10/29/2011 7:20:49 PM |
Location: |
Saint Paul, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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56 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
The Parking Lot Side |
Description: |
This side of the Como Park TCRT depot faces the parking lot. |
Photo Date: |
10/29/2011 Upload Date: 10/29/2011 7:12:52 PM |
Location: |
Saint Paul, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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38 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
The Milwaukee Road And TCRT Were Here |
Description: |
This is one of the most unique depot remodels in the USA; this used to be an open-air platform shelter along the Milwaukee Road branch from Hopkins to Deephaven, MN, a line later bought by the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company in 1906 and torn up in 1932 as TCRT gave way to the stiff automobile competition at Lake Minnetonka. However, instead of coming down, the depot shelter got a house built around it! Today it marks where the right-of-way once was (which was on the driveway to the left). |
Photo Date: |
11/1/2011 Upload Date: 11/2/2011 7:34:30 AM |
Location: |
Woodland, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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99 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Buried Beneath The Snow |
Description: |
The mothballed BNSF line running along the east bank of Old Man River is seen here down by the library on Broadway. This day it is buried beneath winter's snow on a cold but pleasant December Saturday afternoon. |
Photo Date: |
12/10/2011 Upload Date: 12/11/2011 9:25:30 AM |
Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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100 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Next Stop The Scrapper? |
Description: |
The mothballed BNSF line along the east bank of the Mississippi stretches clear of snow south of the Broadway grade crossing. Is the next stop for this line abandonment and the scrapper, or will a customer appear wanting rail service? |
Photo Date: |
12/10/2011 Upload Date: 12/11/2011 9:25:45 AM |
Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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122 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Ragged Roadbed |
Description: |
A portrait of the CGW grade south of County Road 42 taken amidst a snow squall. |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/15/2012 4:36:22 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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360 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Heap Of Earth |
Description: |
Another view of the CGW grade south of County Road 42. Stunning to still see *anything* left from this poor railroad. |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/15/2012 4:36:42 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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374 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
I Can Just See The Headlight |
Description: |
For a mile or two south of 140th street, the CGW retains its track but it is out of service and overgrown to beat the band. It ends at County Road 42. Looking at this vista I captured during my snowy day visit, in my imagination I can just see the headlight of the first of six Chicago Great Western F-units on the point of a freight coming into the Twin Cities from Oelwein, Iowa... |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/16/2012 5:30:48 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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543 Comments: 1 |
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Title: |
Curse You, CNW! |
Description: |
While the line here is out of service and overgrown to beat the band with trees for about a mile or so north towards the Pine Bend Refinery, this embankment marks the end of track on the CGW main line out of Saint Paul. Curse you, Chicago and North Western for wasting this line! |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/14/2012 7:54:48 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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371 Comments: 2 |
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Title: |
Guess The Scrappers Did Not Want This |
Description: |
The CGW retains its rails out of service for a mile or so south of the Pine Bend refinery. Whatever the reason for why they remain, this stretch of Chicago Great Western mainline is wild and overgrown now. We are at the County Road 42 end of this bit of track that once saw six F-unit-led freight trains going north and south long, long ago. |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/14/2012 8:18:23 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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543 Comments: 5 |
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Title: |
This Was The Chicago Great Western |
Description: |
Abandoned since 1984 with rails, ties, and ballast gone soon after, this is all that remains of the CGW in what is left of a cut south of County 42 in Rosemount. |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/14/2012 8:08:04 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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334 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Voila! |
Description: |
At first I did not know if I was standing on the old CGW or it was next to me things were so changed since 1984 at this location. When I saw the roadbed in the distance, I knew I was in a cut once made by the CGW! |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/16/2012 5:07:33 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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351 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Forlorn Remains |
Description: |
We are at the end of a cut now truncated by farm fields a mile or so south of County Road 42. Picture was taken amidst an intense snow squall. Man is it hard to tell the CGW once ran here. |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/16/2012 5:07:55 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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316 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
More CGW Reminders |
Description: |
More bits of railroad ties discarded and now moldy and forgotten along the CGW grade south of County Road 42. |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/16/2012 5:03:28 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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328 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Where Did The CGW Grade Go? |
Description: |
I took this from on the embankment of the intact portion of CGW grade on the north side of County 42 looking south. I do believe the right-of-way is in what appears to be a cut in the right-center of the picture. |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/14/2012 8:07:46 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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380 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Wow! |
Description: |
Bits of ties thrown away by the scrap crews that moved in after the line was abandoned in 1984 lie beside the right-of-way in the remains of a cut now largely decimated by the farmer's plow. This was a major "Wow!" find, for sure; I didn't expect to find any post-abandonment detritus along the chunks of former CGW grade that are left. |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/14/2012 7:54:30 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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368 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
"Arrest Me" |
Description: |
"Arrest me," is what I thought as I disobeyed the sign to take a closer look at the end of CGW grade on the north side of County Road 42 amidst a snow squall. |
Photo Date: |
1/14/2012 Upload Date: 1/14/2012 8:18:04 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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428 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Another Boneyard Boxcar |
Description: |
In another corner of Vics, here is another old boxcar on the grounds near the old Chicago Great Western grade. Wow! |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 7:15:33 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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440 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Yowza Again! |
Description: |
Heading northward along the CGW from the first spot I found a fragment of railroad tie, in a cut I came across another piece. This piece. |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:51:08 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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293 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
I Did It! |
Description: |
A week previous I had walked up the CGW grade from the south at U More park until I reached a fence barely visible in the distant center of this photo past the yellow stick. A week later, I walked down from the north until I reached this same point. Arriba! Man I love train grade exploration. Too bad trains don't pass in sight of that U of M wind turbine; what a photo it would have made! |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:37:02 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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340 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Nothing Left But Visions |
Description: |
The ragged CGW grade as it appears near the U of M's U More park in Rosemount. Even here I can see rails, ties, ballast ... and another northbound train from the CNW days approaching the camera. |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:32:07 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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343 Comments: 1 |
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Title: |
On The South Side |
Description: |
The overgrown heap of earth in the left-center is the CGW. The smooth slope coming up towards the camera is the start of a chunk of CGW grade south of County 42 (visible in the left-center just below the grade on the north side.) |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:10:55 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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324 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Northward View |
Description: |
A view looking north from the south side of the S-curve along the CGW grade near U More park. |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:57:41 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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283 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Southward View |
Description: |
Here is a view of the CGW grade south of County 42 in Rosemount. Touring this was a dream come true for me. I can just see the headlight of the lead F-unit of a northbound Chicago Great Western freight coming out of that cut in the distance ... |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:16:21 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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288 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Northward View Near County 42 |
Description: |
Going back up the old CGW, here is a northward view of the grade a mile or so south of County Road 42. I can just see a six F-unit lashup toting a southbound CGW freight towards the camera ... |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:57:11 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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353 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Boneyard Boxcar |
Description: |
An establishment named Vic's abuts the old CGW grade in Rosemount. Lo and behold: here is an old boxcar within sight of the right-of-way! It is almost like a monument to the trains that no longer pass through here. |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 7:14:12 PM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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572 Comments: 5 |
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Title: |
On The S-Curve |
Description: |
Here we are on the S-curve which can be found south of County 42 on the mile or two of Chicago Great Western grade south of that point. I can just see a northbound freight from the CNW days coming north towards the camera ... |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:28:27 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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297 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Railway Grade Beyond A Doubt |
Description: |
When walking in the cuts along the CGW here it is hard at first to tell you're on an old railway line. That is until you reach the likes of this S-curve, sitting buried in yet another blanket of snow in yet another Minnesota winter long after the rails went up. Note the wind turbine and chimneys at the U of M's U More park in the distance. |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:21:20 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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292 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Yowza! |
Description: |
I found this railroad tie fragment along the old CGW, still at the surface of the roadbed since it fell from a tie being plucked up by a wrecking crew in 1984-85. |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:45:05 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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321 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
From Main Line To Dumping Ground |
Description: |
Once along this corridor trains thundered northbound and southbound in all their regal majesty. Today it is host to at least one piece of garbage. How far the mighty have fallen! |
Photo Date: |
1/21/2012 Upload Date: 1/22/2012 11:44:03 AM |
Location: |
Rosemount, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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285 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Sad Sight |
Description: |
Another view of the fragment of CGW grade that can be found on the north side of Highway 60 in Kenyon. |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/6/2012 11:24:00 PM |
Location: |
Kenyon, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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138 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Vintage CNW Ballast |
Description: |
Track ballast leftover from the day the CNW pulled up the ties and rails can be found south of the whistle post on the CGW between 2nd and Main. What a treat! |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/4/2012 9:10:20 PM |
Location: |
Dodge Center, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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87 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Torn Up Right Of Way |
Description: |
Thanks to a nearby business, the grade of the Milwaukee Road Zumbrota branch is all torn up before the line reaches the former crossing of Highway 56 and the old Chicago Great Western main line. |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/6/2012 10:32:44 AM |
Location: |
Kenyon, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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108 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Whistle Post In Context |
Description: |
The intact concrete "whistle for crossing" post along the Chicago Great Western grade between 2nd and Main in its context. Note how the houses on both sides of the right-of-way are located the way it was when trains ran. Line seems almost like a de facto rail trail at this point. |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/4/2012 9:00:41 PM |
Location: |
Dodge Center, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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142 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Hard To Tell This Was The Chicago Great Western |
Description: |
On the north side of Kenyon proper is this fragment of grade which can be found along a street named Mogren Hill. Hard to believe this was once the CGW; shame the Kansas City Southern never bought them and still ran trains through here to this day. |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/6/2012 4:57:36 PM |
Location: |
Kenyon, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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101 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Chicago Great Woods |
Description: |
Man oh man did the old CGW main line sprout trees in the decades since the rails went up! Here we are looking north across Country Road 32 at a sizeable portion of grade that stretches north a couple miles from here. |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/6/2012 11:10:49 PM |
Location: |
Dodge Center, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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83 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
No More Thunder |
Description: |
No longer do trains thunder south out of Kenyon down this right-of-way on the old Chicago Great Western main line to Iowa. Today, only weeds, tress, and trash like the tire in the center background can be found. We are looking north towards town from the site of the Milwaukee Road's bridge over the CGW carrying the rails of their branch to Zumbrota. |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/4/2012 4:09:01 AM |
Location: |
Kenyon, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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87 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Hard To Tell It Was The Great Western |
Description: |
While the CGW is intact on the south side of Kenyon, on the north side it is cut up but good. Here is a small portion of grade that remains on the north side of Highway 60. |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/6/2012 11:23:37 PM |
Location: |
Kenyon, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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63 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Sad Remains |
Description: |
The sad remains of the CGW main line as it looks today right on the north side of where it crossed what now is the CP/DM&E; note the old tie with a tie plate and spikes still attached in the center foreground. |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/6/2012 11:19:34 PM |
Location: |
Dodge Center, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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114 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
Post-Abandonment Changes |
Description: |
The new residence at left has the former CGW in its front yard, serving as an access road to 2nd Street. Note how buildings on the right retain their railroad days alignment. |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/4/2012 9:09:30 PM |
Location: |
Dodge Center, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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104 Comments: 0 |
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Title: |
In The Trees |
Description: |
Trees practically overwhelm the grade of the CGW main a block north of the former interchange with the C&NW Winona to Rapid City line (now CP/DM&E). Luckily, after a short detour paralelling the grade, I was able to climb back on during my stroll south. Would not want to try the same stunt in the summer, though! |
Photo Date: |
3/3/2012 Upload Date: 3/6/2012 10:43:52 PM |
Location: |
Dodge Center, MN |
Author: |
Richard Held |
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Views: |
77 Comments: 0 |
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