| For eons, there used to stretch from the GN main in downtown Minneapolis along an elevated "china wall" the "Railway Transfer" line which connected to the downtown Milwaukee Road yards, grain elevators along the west bank of the Mississippi, and the Railway Transfer yard. The tracks which crossed this wall passed under First Avenue, which crosses the bridge (a replica of the original) in the center of this photo. Alas, while the Railway Transfer tracks lingered while the Milwuakee yards and GN depot passenger tracks were torn up, it too finally vanished. Only a fragment of the "china wall" remains today, stretching from First Avenue to beside the downtown post office. Sad to say, the First Avenue portal is fenced in, but the wall can easily be accessed from the post office side. Hennepin Avenue crossed the suspension bridge in the background, a span which post-dates the demise of the trackage here. |