After living here in the Twin Cities for 16 years I finally went wandering around on the east side of Northtown RR yard. There are a bunch of warehouses and businesses along the yard to the east. I drove into the back lot of one where snow blocked much of the view. Then into the side lot of another with a sliding gate opening to the rear which is where I stopped and left. I then drove south and went over the bridge near the BNSF offices and came back over it. I think if I could walk up to the top of the bridge that would be a good place to watch trains from. Are there any places where I can legally park and not get a ticket or charged with tresspassing?
By far one of my favorite spots was right here. I spent many summer evenings there back in 95-96, when I lived in St. Paul and Brooklyn Park. There were always other fans; usually 6-10 cars there pretty much every evening. Of course, this was before the internet really took off, so people might be more apt to stay in now. But it’s a good spot because so much diverse traffic funnels through that gauntlet.
A couple of years back, Los Angeles Rams Guy and I met up and spent some time on the Saint Anthony Parkway bridge. We parked in the lot of a vacant building, IIRC, just west of the bridge.
I used to go once a year on my way to the Northtown Mall RR Show. I would get off University at St. Anthony Parkway, go across the bridge and turn south on California and park along the street (on the west side of the yard). In the summer when the road is clear there’s a lot of space to park. Then I would take a few pics and spend the rest of the time on the bridge. Never had any trouble but this was “pre-9-11”.