Nostalgia & History > What GN Yard Is This in Minneapolis

On June 8, 1964 I exposed Kodachrome to GN rolling stock in a Minneapolis Yard. It was the first time I had been there, and without an Android I had little idea where exactly I was. I was armed with a street map from a gas station and change for the local bus system. I sure wished for the University Avenue streetcar. Even the tracks were gone. It is back today in the form of the new Green Line light rail. But I digress.

I took these two overview photos eight photos apart on that roll of Kodachrome. They should contain enough information for a Minnesotan to tell me which yard I was photographing and possibly some other details.


Thanks in advance,
Marty Bernard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/01/14 17:40 by MartyBernard.

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Must be Minneapolis Jct. The roundhouse would not survive to BN merger, largely torn down and replaced with a modern "run through" diesel house - whisker tracks survived. Minneapolis Jct. was not really a "yard" but rather a locomotive facility, power would move from here east to Union Yard or West to Lyndale (Jct.) Yard. Believe the 261 makes its home here now.

At fist I could not recognize anything, but then I saw the top of the Purity Oats elevator (oat flour for Cheerios) and all was revealed.

George

Agree this is Minneapolis Junction. The area is just west of GN's main
Twin Cities yard, Union Yard. The first shot is railroad west
of the facility, empirically northwest, while the second shot is
empirically northeast of the facility. The run-though diesel
facility that replaced the roundhouse is now home to MILW 261.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Edit to add information: The two tracks on the left were the passenger
main to GN Station across the river. The Badger, Gopher and Dakotan
regularly used this route, while the Red River and the Western Star
moved back and forth between the two for service requirements. The
Empire Builder ran on the Willmar route out of GN Station and didn't
go this way. Today, Wayazata Sub freights take this line to Willmar
and points west and south.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/14 07:30 by ntharalson.

Minneapolis Junction. The run through building was for light servicing I think. Sand, fuel, and water. To stay indoors during the cold Minnesota winters. It was built in the late 1960s. The roundhouse remained until 1992, when it burned down in a suspicious fire. Very nice photos, thank you for sharing!

Al Seever
Phoenix, AZ