Wayzata Minnesota depot. Local TV station had a feature on it. I saw tracks next to it. Is it an active or connected line?
Isn’t that the BNSF line going straight west out of Minneapolis? It’s still pretty active- rrpicturearchives has pictures from last week posted of trains running through there.
The Wayzata depot is on the GN Willmar line which once was the route of both the Empire Builder and sometimes the Western Star. The line also carried Amtrak’s Empire Builder until around 1980. The Wayzata line is not real busy but it has about 8-10 trains a day. The depot is in downtown Wayzata and worth the trip out there.Parking is available and the depot is open on weekends and I believe wendesday afternoons. They have a scanner tuned to Northtown yard so it will give notice when a train may be coming. Also the signals are in easy view. Wayzata is a very upscale town and restaurants are pricey, however a place called Maggie’s isn’t too bad. It is just east of the downtown area. There is also a McDonald’s about a mile from the depot. If you are adventurous the depot in Dassel might be worth a trip. It has been moved to a sight on Highway 12 not by the tracks.
If you are looking for a railfan daytrip the drive to Willmar is fun. You will see some trains. US 12 stays fairly close to the BNSF tracks. It is 98 miles out from Minneapolis. Coming back MN 55 from Paynesville to Minneapolis suburbs closely follows the CP ( Soo Line ) back. That line too is fairly busy.
Did the TV station feature mention the famous battle between Wayzata and James J. Hill, the Empire Builder himself, over the train noise, and the various moves and counter-moves, and how it all ended up with this depot ? See:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3F37
Also, here’s a link to a webpage for the local historical society, which is based there. Apparently the depot even has a live ATCS display !
http://www.wayzatahistoricalsociety.org/Depot.htm
If you want to know more, do a search for Wayzata, and either depot or station.
- Paul North.
Wayzata depot isolated?
Becausezata track zat ran by zata depot was taken up!
[(-D] [(-D]
“Wayzata ?”
“Huh ? What’s atta where ???”
“No, WAYsatta is where ?”
“Yes, thats’ what I’m trying to find out ! WHAT’s atta where ?”
Seems to me that there’s a “Who’s on first ?” routine, railroad-station version, waiting to happen here . . . [:-^]
- PDN.
Wilmar is definitely good for a day trip out of the Twin Cities. The BNSF/ex-GN yard there is easily viewable from city property and you can get a good look at the engine facilities from the city street that parallels the yard without trespassing. There’s also (or at least there was when I was there a few years back) a pedestrian footbridge that spans the yard. I saw a lot of “older” power there when I went there. I saw quite a number of high-nose SD7s/SD9s, GP7s/GP9s and some GP39s, with a good mix of BN green & white as well as the pumpkins.
You do lose sight of the ROW at a number of points along the highway but not for too long. The trouble is the traffic - if you’re heading out of the
There is also a G.N. class P2 4-8-2 on display at Willmar.
http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/index2.htm?GNEGN_P2_Class.htm