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| Title: |
Gutted Switch |
| Description: |
The industry in the background used to be served by the former Milwaukee Road line into Minnehaha Park. No longer! The result is this photogenic sight. |
| Photo Date: |
3/31/2013 Upload Date: 4/3/2013 3:58:18 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Track |
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99 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Venerable Span |
| Description: |
The former Milwaukee Road stone arch bridge over Minnehaha Creek in Minnehaha Park. We are looking at it from the Minnehaha Avenue bridge over the creek. |
| Photo Date: |
4/8/2013 Upload Date: 4/9/2013 10:53:29 AM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
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57 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
The New Graffiti Bridge? |
| Description: |
This old stone bridge carries the mothballed ex-Milwaukee Road line into Minnehaha Park over Minnehaha Creek. Judging by the graffiti locals have left, this bridge has become the heir to the one that once stood in Eden Prarie along the old M&St.L. |
| Photo Date: |
4/8/2013 Upload Date: 4/9/2013 10:54:12 AM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
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80 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
You could rebuild this baby |
| Description: |
We are at a wayside rest along the former Minneapolis & St. Louis line to Excelsior and points west that was abandoned between Hopkins and Norwood in 1980. It now is a recreational trail. You could easily slap ballast, ties, and rail down on this segment and put it back in business. |
| Photo Date: |
7/4/2013 Upload Date: 7/4/2013 5:28:58 PM |
| Location: |
Greenwood, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Scenic |
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52 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
The old Louie by Lake Minnetonka |
| Description: |
The Minneapolis and St. Louis sure took the scenic route when they built west from Hopkins to Excelsior and on into South Dakota eons ago. Today this recreational trail run by Three Rivers Park occupies the roadbed. Man how I wish I could have taken in this view from a locomotive cab! |
| Photo Date: |
7/4/2013 Upload Date: 7/4/2013 5:29:51 PM |
| Location: |
Greenwood, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Scenic |
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80 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
From "Milwaukee Road" to "Midtown Greenway" |
| Description: |
We are are looking southwest along the former Milwaukee Road 29th Street line, now the Midtown Greenway. The black fence at the left contains right-of-way along which a track could possibly be rebuilt on should the solution to rebuild the 29th Street line be decided on to resolve the Southwest LRT/TC&W spat. |
| Photo Date: |
7/22/2013 Upload Date: 7/22/2013 9:20:49 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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38 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Where Three Rivers Parks and the City of Minneapolis join hands |
| Description: |
We are standing along the old Milwaukee Road looking towards Lake Street in this shot. This is the area where the Midtown Greenway begins and the Three Rivers Parks River Bluffs trail ends. There is a chance this vista might sport rails again at least in part if the 29th Street corridor ever regains a set of tracks due to the Southwest LRT/TC&W re-route hassle. |
| Photo Date: |
7/22/2013 Upload Date: 7/22/2013 8:53:27 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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37 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Looking East From The Warren Truss |
| Description: |
To accomodate the St. Anthony Falls lock and dam a Warren Truss bridge was inserted into the Stone Arch Bridge. This eastward-facing view was taken from that bridge within a bridge. The ex-Twin City Rapid Transit Company steam power plant and an old bridge pier are visible in the center distance. |
| Photo Date: |
9/25/2013 Upload Date: 9/25/2013 9:56:33 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
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71 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
"National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark" |
| Description: |
This historic plaque now occupies a prominent place along the fabled Stone Arch Bridge. Note how my shadow wandered into the shot! |
| Photo Date: |
9/25/2013 Upload Date: 9/25/2013 4:35:16 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
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24 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Stone Arch Bridge Saint Anthony Heritage Trail Marker |
| Description: |
It is nice they got plenty of interpretive signage up along the Stone Arch Bridge now. |
| Photo Date: |
9/25/2013 Upload Date: 9/25/2013 4:33:58 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
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147 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Where The Roundhouse Once Stood |
| Description: |
Here is where the old GN/BN/CNW/Amtrak roundhouse at Minneapolis Junction once stood. |
| Photo Date: |
9/25/2013 Upload Date: 9/25/2013 4:33:20 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Yard |
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44 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
A Stone Arch Protest |
| Description: |
Neatly painted onto the top of the railing above the Historic Engineering Landmark plaque on the Stone Arch Bridge is this message which reads: "MPD Murdered Terrance Franklin." This bridge may occupy a prominent part as a Minneapolis landmark, but it does not exist in a vacuum. |
| Photo Date: |
9/25/2013 Upload Date: 9/25/2013 4:35:44 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
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29 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
No More Rails |
| Description: |
A set of double tracks once stretched off the Stone Arch Bridge at this location on the western end of the bridge and headed into a maze of tracks at the Great Northern Depot upriver. Here is how the western end of the bridge looks today. |
| Photo Date: |
9/25/2013 Upload Date: 9/25/2013 9:57:04 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
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40 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Across The Stone Arch |
| Description: |
A westward-facing view across the Stone Arch Bridge early on the afternoon of the last Wednesday for September of 2013. Note St. Anthony Falls in the upper right corner. |
| Photo Date: |
9/25/2013 Upload Date: 9/25/2013 9:57:33 PM |
| Location: |
Minneapolis, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
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35 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
No More Tootin' Louie/Cheap And Nothing Wasted |
| Description: |
The "Tootin Louie" and the "Cheap and Nothing Wasted" once rolled trains through here. Now nothing but plant life exists along this stretch of abandoned grade. The tracks went up in 1980. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/22/2013 11:43:00 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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28 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Some Ballast Lingers On |
| Description: |
We are along the abandoned grade of the former C&NW Morton Sub (once part of the M&St.L's route to South Dakota.) The pond at right is related to Six Mile Creek, which passes under the old ROW further west of this point. Note how some ballast remains along this stretch of grade over three decades after the rails went up in 1980. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/22/2013 7:59:33 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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51 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Approaching The Six Mile Creek Pond |
| Description: |
A pond formed in a marsh by Six Mile Creek is bisected by the abandoned grade of the C&NW Morton Sub, an ex-M&St.L. line torn up in 1980. Here we are approaching the pond along the now-wildly overgrown grade. The pond is barely visible in the upper left corner. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/22/2013 11:43:40 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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32 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Blocked Path |
| Description: |
One of the hazards of exploring abandoned grades is fallen trees. This baby was a (temporary) roadblock for me while I was touring the old C&NW Morton Sub this day. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/22/2013 11:44:22 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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24 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
An Unexpected Rail Trail |
| Description: |
The former Chicago and North Western Morton Sub --the ex-Minneapolis and St. Louis line to South Dakota which once branched off the Louie's main line at Hopkins, MN-- is now a rail trail between Hopkins and Victoria, MN. West of Victoria the line is either virgin grade or plowed under by local farmers. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that this portion of virgin grade was becoming a trail itself in order to link downtown Victoria with a new housing development built on the outskirts. The path leading up to the residential developments is visible in the background. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/20/2013 3:54:28 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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34 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
New Trail And Old ROW |
| Description: |
Here is where the currently half-completed (?) trail built along the old CNW Morton Sub to link downtown Victoria with an outlying development branches off the old grade. As you can see, the grade resumes its "pristine" abandoned state at this point. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/21/2013 3:46:58 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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53 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Looking East On The Morton Sub |
| Description: |
We are looking east towards downtown Victoria along the grade of the C&NW's Morton Sub (ex-M&St.L.). Note how the grade still retains much old ballast even after being abandoned back in 1980. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/20/2013 4:28:44 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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56 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
"The C&NW Was Here" |
| Description: |
We are looking west towards the pond that is located in a marsh Six Mile Creek flows through, a corner of which is bisected by the abandoned grade of the old C&NW Morton Sub, an ex-M&St.L. route abandoned between Hopkins and Norwood, MN, in 1980. This vista all but whispers "The C&NW Was Here." And so yet another former "Tootin' Louie" line was axed in the name of line rationalization, which was the C&NW routing trains that once rolled through here over the Milwaukee Road from Bass Lake in St. Louis Park to Norwood. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/22/2013 11:45:04 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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43 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Looking West On The Morton Sub |
| Description: |
An intact stretch of former C&NW Morton Sub ROW in Victoria, MN, is currently half-converted into a trail linking an outlying residential development to Victoria proper. Note the copious ammounts of old track ballast that has been made further evident by the trail work. Carl Krey Lake is in the left background. Six Mile Creek passes under the ROW west of this point via a rusty old pipe. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/20/2013 4:29:24 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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43 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Blocked! |
| Description: |
These fallen trees plus marshland out of view to the left stopped me from going any further east into Victoria proper along the abandoned grade of the C&NW's Morton Subdivision. A few hundred feet further and I would have hit the first of two backyards that were built along the old right-of-way after the rails went up in 1980. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/22/2013 11:45:52 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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28 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Lucien Sprague Would Cry |
| Description: |
Once upon a time, the Minneapolis & St. Louis was a failing mid-sized "Grnager" railroad in bankruptcy. Along came a man named Lucien Sprague, a talented railroader and salesman who nursed the "Louie" back to health. In fact, he traveled over the rails that once existed here during his tenure at the M&St.L. He would cry if he saw what had become of this stretch of the railroad he so dearly loved. We are in Victoria proper at this point along the abandoned grade of the "Tootin' Louie" that became the C&NW Morton Sub after the 1960 purchase of the Louie by the North Western. The rails came up in 1980 and mother nature moved in afterward. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/22/2013 8:00:32 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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48 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Old Cut Along The Morton Sub |
| Description: |
When the Minneapolis & St. Louis built its way west through Victoria, they cut into part of a hill so they could skirt a small lake. The cut remained when the line became the Morton Sub of the Chicago and North Western, and it remains to this day. It is so overgrown you can barely make it out, though. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/22/2013 4:19:53 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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36 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
"Pink Lady" Ballast? |
| Description: |
Here we are on a stretch of overgrown grade along the mortal remains of the C&NW Morton Sub in Victoria, MN. Is this ballast fabled C&NW "Pink Lady"? |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/20/2013 3:52:14 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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28 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
"The Road That Runs"...Through The Jungle |
| Description: |
The zinger that makes up the caption of this photo perfectly sums up this stretch of former Minneapolis & St. Louis ROW in Victoria, MN. For what's worth, we are looking west along this stretch of grade, which is in Victoria proper nestled below a residential area in an old cut. This line later became part of the Morton Subdivision of the Chicago and North Western, and was torn up in 1980. |
| Photo Date: |
10/19/2013 Upload Date: 10/22/2013 4:19:07 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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32 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Rail Remains |
| Description: |
Those are definitely railroad ties half-buried in the old CNW Morton Sub ROW at this point. But were they put there post-abandonment or were they part of a culvert or small bridge? Note the remaining track ballast at this point. |
| Photo Date: |
10/21/2013 Upload Date: 10/21/2013 3:52:22 PM |
| Location: |
Victoria, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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70 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
I Sure Wish They Were Rebuilding Track, Not Trail! |
| Description: |
Three Rivers Parks has stripped the trail running along the old "Tootin' Louis" main line to the bare dirt between The Depot Coffehouse and Blake Road. I sure wish they were rebuilding track here, not trail! |
| Photo Date: |
11/16/2013 Upload Date: 11/16/2013 11:08:53 PM |
| Location: |
Hopkins, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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65 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Trail Work By The Depot |
| Description: |
As rainy weather approaches, the old Minneapolis & St. Louis main line sits stripped down to the bare earth once more for work on the Three Rivers Park trail that now runs along it here. |
| Photo Date: |
11/16/2013 Upload Date: 11/16/2013 11:08:05 PM |
| Location: |
Hopkins, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Station |
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63 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Trashed Signal Relay Box |
| Description: |
updated: This is a signal relay box which stands along the still-intact Milwaukee Road/Chicago Great Western interchange track near the Hormel Plant. Whatever equipment was here has long since been scattered to the four winds. |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/13/2014 6:14:18 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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99 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
CGW Rails? |
| Description: |
The growth of brush and trees was so thick where the old Chicago Great Western/Milwaukee Road connection track diverged from the fragment of surviving CGW track by Hormel I thought nothing was here. But then I got closer and disocvered some old, jointed rails remained! Maybe this was kept as a tail track for a time? |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/17/2014 9:35:47 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Track |
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| Views: |
105 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
CGW Rails! |
| Description: |
Incredibly, track remain on the south side of the former Chicago Great Western/Milwaukee Road crossing in town. Quite a sight for sore eyes to see! |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/15/2014 5:08:57 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Track |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
83 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Looking North From The CGW/MILW Crossing Site |
| Description: |
Here we are looking north alogn the Chicago Great Western right of way from the former CGW/Milwaukee Road crossing. A trail swings onto the old CGW just past the old signal in the center background. The trail bridge spanning I-90 is just visible in the background past the signal. |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/15/2014 2:59:10 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Signal |
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| Views: |
107 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Looking South From the CGW/MILW Crossing Site |
| Description: |
And here we are looking south along the former Chicago Great Western right of way from the CGW/MILW crossing site. Believe it or not, CGW rails remain buried beneath all those weeds and trees! |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/15/2014 2:59:40 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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68 Comments: 1 |
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| Title: |
Old CGW Signal, View One |
| Description: |
Here is a view of the old CGW signal which still stands on the north side of the former Milwaukee Road/Chicago Great Western crossing. |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/13/2014 6:05:08 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Signal |
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118 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Old CGW Signal, View Two |
| Description: |
Here is another view of the old CGW signal which still guards the old Milwaukee Road/Chicago Great Western crossing near the Hormel Plant. The signal strikes me as looking like a sad, forlorn face. |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/13/2014 6:04:34 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Signal |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
127 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Discarded Ties |
| Description: |
I found this pile of discarded ties --some of which still had tie plates on them-- on the south side of the former CGW/MILW crossing. I wonder if these were ex-CGW/CNW ones? |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/15/2014 5:09:24 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
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48 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
More Discarded Ties |
| Description: |
Here are more discarded ties I found on the south side of the former CGW/CNW crossing. These might be ex-CGW/CNW ones. |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/15/2014 5:10:19 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
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40 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Site Of CGW Cedar River Bridge, View One |
| Description: |
This trail bridge utilizes the abutments for the Chicago Great Western's Cedar River bridge, which lasted long after abandonment of the CGW from Austin on south in 1984 until being removed to make way for this trail bridge. |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/14/2014 8:05:02 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
85 Comments: 2 |
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| Title: |
Where The CGW Once Crossed The Cedar |
| Description: |
The old CGW bridge over the Cedar River lasted from abandonment of the old CGW south of the Hormel plant until the first decade of the 21st Century, where the deck plate bridge that used to be here was swapped out for a trail bridge. The alingment of the CGW ROW remains intact, however, thanks to the use of the old bridge piers. |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/17/2014 9:36:20 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
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| Views: |
42 Comments: 0 |
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| Title: |
Site of CGW Cedar River bridge, view two |
| Description: |
Here is an up close look at the old CGW abutment on the north side of the site of the CGW's Cedar River bridge. It now supports a much lighter span carrying trail users over the tranquil waters of the Cedar. |
| Photo Date: |
4/12/2014 Upload Date: 4/14/2014 8:05:34 PM |
| Location: |
Austin, MN |
| Author: |
Richard Held |
| Categories: |
Bridge |
| Locomotives: |
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| Views: |
44 Comments: 0 |
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