Nostalgia & History > Why Didn't I Ever Notice This Sign?

I was photo-editing a scan of one of Roger Puta's slides (Photo 1) not knowing where he took it. Then I noticed and read the sign and knew exactly where he was. The sign was on the Great Northern Railroad Depot at the corner of Hennepin Ave. and The Mississippi in Minneapolis. The sign is gone and so is the depot that held it up. I wonder why I never noticed the sign when the depot was there and active?

1. An unknown obs car in Great Northern Station in Minneapolis, MN in November 1964

2. A cropping of just the sign.

So I wanted to see the sign from the street side. I Googled around and found this:

3. "Workman Cleaning Great Northern Depot in 1944". If you look closely you will see it has a variation from Roger's photo.

How many of you remember the sign?

Marty Bernard



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/17 16:42 by MartyBernard.

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What train would that have been with the biz car on it? It's in the shadows but it looks like there are CB&Q type skirted Budds up front.

Maybe CB&Q 47 from Chicago? BSB

I remember that sign well, although I never shot it, and I do have some shots at the
Great Northern Station.

As for the train, I have no clue. I don't think it's 47 as there's too much head end
business for that train. But that color scheme on the first two cars does not match
anything I remember at GN station. I'm wondering if that isn't some sort of private
car trip on the "Mainstreeter" or "Western Star." Now, don't start on me because that's
a super WAG.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

That listing on the roof sounds pretty inclusive, surprising it's not a "Union Station".

Who is left out?  Soo, I guess.  Who else?

march_hare Wrote:
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> That listing on the roof sounds pretty inclusive,
> surprising it's not a "Union Station".
>
> Who is left out?  Soo, I guess.  Who else?

Milwaukee Road isn't listed, either. I noticed in the 1944 sign it looks like CGW was farther to the right instead of centered.

Kim Heusel

march_hare Wrote:
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> That listing on the roof sounds pretty inclusive,
> surprising it's not a "Union Station".

Great Northern owned the depot, everyone else was a tenant. Interestingly, in its public documents (timetables, etc.), rival Northern Pacific always called it the "Hennepin Avenue Station" rather than the "Great Northern Station".



> Who is left out?  Soo, I guess.  Who else?


Milwaukee Road, Rock Island, and Soo Line, all used the Milwaukee depot a few blocks away.

czephyr17 Wrote:
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> march_hare Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > That listing on the roof sounds pretty
> inclusive,
> > surprising it's not a "Union Station".
>
> Great Northern owned the depot, everyone else was
> a tenant. Interestingly, in its public documents
> (timetables, etc.), rival Northern Pacific always
> called it the "Hennepin Avenue Station" rather
> than the "Great Northern Station".
>
>
>
> > Who is left out?  Soo, I guess.  Who else?
>
>
> Milwaukee Road, Rock Island, and Soo Line, all
> used the Milwaukee depot a few blocks away.

MN&S also had a statuon a few block north.

-LS

LarryDoyle Wrote:
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> MN&S also had a statuon a few block north.
>
> -LS

Never realized that. I'll have to do a little research on that. Any idea when their last passenger service ran?

North? That would it on the north side of the River.

MN&S was more Interurban like so I'd like to know what you find out Larry.

Marty

MartyBernard Wrote:
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> North? That would it on the north side of the
> River.
>
> MN&S was more Interurban like so I'd like to know
> what you find out Larry.
>
> Marty

Well, not exactly. The river flows almost due north and
south through this section of Minneapolis. The MN&S station
was on 7th Street, I think, and 1st Avenue North, closer to
the downtown area than the GN station. It was more north
and west of the big depot and was long gone by the time I
frequented the "City of Lakes."

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA