Join the discussion on the following article:
‘Minnesota Zephyr’ route purchased for trail use
Noise of the tourist trains during the daytime? Man, people in this country will always find something to complain about. Too bad jerks have to ruin things.
A trail…yawn. Best economic developement would come from working to keep the rails intact.
Despite this issue being a former dinner train route, when will people urge their leaders to vote in fovor of rail and against highway congestion?
In the Seattle area, the old Interurban line has been made into a trail while millions are spent acquiring land for new light rail. I use the trail extensively but see the short-sightedness in the rail-to-trail mindset.
Sounds like Stillwater might have a static train display, whether they want it or not.
@Norton, why would the best economic development come from keeping the rails in tact? You did at least read the article and note that it the line does not run anywhere, that it’s not connected to any other rail? What would it cost in resources to reconnect it? What about rebuilding the existing railbed? How much would that cost? What would the opportunity costs be?
@Mr. Homquist? What highway congestion would be ended by opening commuter rail on this route? How many jobs are located along the current line? What empirical evidence is there that congestion would be ended by building some sort of commuter rail on this old line? Staying local to the area, did hte Hiawatha line end congestion on MN 55? Did the Northstar line eliminate congestion on US 10 and I94?
I live in Minnesota. So sad to see this train go
Why were the tracks removed before the locomotive and coaches relocated ? Be sure to add a lot of De-Stabil to the
diesel fuel left in the tanks so it won’t turn to varnish.
I would venture to guess the railroad was there well before most of the houses along the route and served to help build Stillwater, yet people complain, so the MTM had to be moved. Dont like the noise, dont move near the tracks, duh…
It’s sad to see a Dinner train go down the tubes because nearby residents disapprove of (Daylight) noises it creates.
How much noise does a train make moving at 5 to 10 mph?
A: Not Much! I guess if complaints were taken seriously from
all areas of the country on train noise, well then we should
shut down America’s rail system…By-Golly, even the Trolley!
…Happy Trails to the Minnesota Zephyr. You’ll be missed.
From the article, I gather that the ~7 miles from the Stillwater depot to the connection at Hudson was still in place in 1992 when the museum moved its equipment out and the private owner moved his in. When was it removed?
I wonder if it would be cheaper/easier than trucking to lay 2-3 blocks of temporary track and put the train on a barge near the circle at the end of Mulberry St.
Dang, “Allen”. Take a breath!!!
It’s about time they did something new with the line. Take the passenger cars to the scrap yard. The last time I was in Stillwater they were showing their age and lack of maintenance.
Score another one for the NIMBY’s. If you don’t like railroads and their “noise”, don’t move next to one! Grrr…
I guess it seems rather obvious, but what was the purchase price???
While the NIMBY factor was at play with the departure of MTM’s trains upriver to Osceola, Wis, I believe the dinner train’s shut down was likely more of a case of the owner wanting to retire and being unable to find a buyer at his desired price. I think the rail connection to this line was gone perhaps even before the ending of the dinner train.
There are other routes still in place that could eventually serve commuter trains on the Twin Cities’ east side — the UP’s ex-C&NW line toward Eau Claire, WI., and the CN’s ex-WC/Soo route.
This article wasn’t intended to cover all those issues. I know the author is aware of these issues.
Sounds like the same snobs who move next to an airport and then complain about the noise. They probably want trucks rerouted around there high class neigborhood. And if a lakes nearby, oh my, now those boats and jet skies. Course jrs. loud motorcyle day and night, well that’s different.
@DAVID STREETER, I’m not sure that the tracks are gone. I’ll look next time I’m down there. It at least used to be connected to the line the Union Pacific owns. IIRC it’s the old Milwaukee Road line that comes into Stillwater from the south. The couple mile portion between Bayport and Stillwater, if it’s physically still there, probably hasn’t been used since they moved the equipment in. I wouldn’t be surprised if it hadn’t been used since the Milwaukee Road went bust.
The line from the UP main line to Bayport is currently served by Minnesota Commercial.
For what it’s worth, the map someone did shows their trackage rights reaching into Stillwater>
I have a very pleasant memory of my son surprising me with a trip on the diner train on my birthday. He knew of my love of trains, and it was a great well planned birthday surprise. I was sad when I heard that the trips had ended a few years ago - and now another piece of the once great rail system in the upper Midwest is also gone.