Lost Railways of the Twin Cities
Take a rails-and-trails tour of abandoned railways around the Twin Cities metro, as our author explains their history and current uses.
Tag Archives: railroads
National Links: Flood Zones and Texas-Sized Regulation
The Overhead Wire’s weekly news compilation explores why American railroads oppose electrification and how two Belgian cities sought to reduce car use downtown.
The Largest, Hardest-to-Find Park in St. Paul
Hidden behind industrial facilities and a maze of streets, Pig’s Eye Regional Park is St. Paul’s hidden — yet unpolished — gem. The park’s peaceful nature makes a visit more than worthwhile, yet it demands some revitalization and decontamination, efforts which are being pioneered by the Great River Conservancy.
Progressive Rail’s High Line: Past, Present, and Future
Progressive Rail’s High Line is a little-used yet important freight railway facing proposals for conversion to a trail. However, framing this push as a rail vs trail choice ignores the better solution: rail-with-trail.
BNSF Said No to Light Rail, Would They Say Yes to a Trail?
The Blue Line Extension hit a major roadblock when BNSF Railway refused to allow part of the light rail route on their right-of-way. This means delays and a higher cost to the project, but it’s also been an opportunity to reroute the light rail through North Minneapolis. What hasn’t been talked about however, is the […]
Rail-with-Trails of the Twin Cities
In my previous post I discussed rail-trails, which are abandoned railroad right-of-ways repurposed as trails. The Twin Cities has many of these, but the region also has several so-called rail-with-trail corridors. Rail-with-trails are trails alongside active rail lines. They provide a safe path for people, deterring trespassing on railroad property while still allowing train movements, […]
Rail-Trails of the Twin Cities
For several decades, railroads have abandoned many miles of track in the United States due to several factors including redundant routes, bankruptcies, mergers and significant government investment in roads that made shipping freight by rail less competitive than by truck. While some railroad right-of-ways have disappeared from redevelopment, others have been converted to trails that […]
SWLRT Construction: A Bike Tour of the Construction
If you have have driven, biked, walked, or heard the news in the southwest metro, you might be seeing construction. Especially with biking, this has caused an inconvenience for biking around. Many trails have been closed for multiple years, and detours are in place. However, I was curious and wanted to see the construction. I […]
Could the Commuter Rail from Minneapolis to Duluth be a Flop?
A recent Star Tribune post on a new bus service starting at $9 to Duluth got me thinking about all the recent talk about having a government-sponsored, commuter rail service to Duluth. Amtrak recently announced that it was interested in investing $600 million to develop a rail service from Minneapolis to Superior and Duluth, using […]
Map Monday: Duluth & Winnipeg Railroad Map, c. 1881
Via Perfect Duluth Day, here’s a map showing an early railroad connection from Duluth to the northwest, all the way to Winnipeg. This was right in the middle of the era when both cities were booming. Here’s the map, which also shows early railroad era connections from Duluth into Wisconsin: And an expandable close-up of […]