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5/21/2024
 
 
 
 
 
By:Tony Held
Dates:9/3/2014 - 9/7/2020
Album Info:More train action and other rail scenes from around the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Enjoy!
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Still Parked
Title:  Still Parked
Description:  This cluster of units, including a veteran CP SD40-2, and ex-Milwaukee Road "bandit" GP40, and a Soo Line GP38-2, remain parked in the east end of Humboldt Yard since I saw them last.
Photo Date:  3/24/2017  Upload Date: 3/24/2017 7:19:19 PM
Location:  Minneapolis, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Yard
Locomotives:  CP 6003(SD40-2) CP 9524(AC44CW)
Views:  212   Comments: 0
Three Drab, One Fresh
Title:  Three Drab, One Fresh
Description:  Another view of this five unit string of GEs I found at Humboldt Yard on a gray Friday afternoon. Four are drab, but the fifth, second from the right, the 9558, is resplendent. Must be out of the paint shop by only a few months.
Photo Date:  3/24/2017  Upload Date: 3/24/2017 7:03:16 PM
Location:  Minneapolis, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Yard
Locomotives:  CP 9511(AC44CW) CP 9558(AC44CW)
Views:  171   Comments: 0
Midway Yard's Yard Goats
Title:  Midway Yard's Yard Goats
Description:  The crew of Midway's yard goats gets ready to resume switching after a sand train passed while the units idled near Snelling Avenue on a gray Sunday afternoon.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:57:23 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Yard,Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 1824(SD39-2) BNSF 1898(SD40-2)
Views:  231   Comments: 1
Tagged And Rusty
Title:  Tagged And Rusty
Description:  This ex-Burlington Northern boxcar, which I assume the Minnesota Commercial now owns, is so rusted and "tagged" by local punks that it is impossible to find a stencil on it. I saw a similar car without trucks a few years back, apparently used for storage at a business in Rosemount located just off the remains of the Chicago Great Western's main line. (That car's paint was in better shape, by the way.)
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:38:54 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster,RollingStock
Locomotives: 
Views:  66   Comments: 0
Veteran BN Duo At Highway 280
Title:  Veteran BN Duo At Highway 280
Description:  BNSF's veteran SD60 duo approaches Highway 280 as the crew takes them up to Northtown on a light power move. Note the sand train in the right background at Union Yard. I am not sure if that was the train's final destination, but it had stopped there for the moment after it passed Midway yard.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 9:10:59 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Yard,Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 1475(SD60M) BNSF 1458(SD60M)
Views:  304   Comments: 2
Golden Oldies On The Move
Title:  Golden Oldies On The Move
Description:  BNSF's veteran SD60 duo is slowly but surely driven along the old Great Northern by the 1458's engineer as the light power move approaches the U of M transitway.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 9:10:15 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Yard,Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 1458(SD60M) BNSF 1475(SD60M)
Views:  264   Comments: 0
Leased Power At East Minneapolis
Title:  Leased Power At East Minneapolis
Description:  A pair of GATX Locomotive Group units sit parked at Union Pacific's East Minneapolis yard on a cloudy Sunday afternoon in April.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 9:08:46 PM
Location:  Minneapolis, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster,Yard
Locomotives:  GMTX 2694(GP38-2) GMTX 2271(GP38-2)
Views:  254   Comments: 2
Arriving Sand Train
Title:  Arriving Sand Train
Description:  A sand train passes through Midway Yard en route to Union Yard in Minneapolis on a gray Sunday afternoon.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:55:43 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 6773(ES44C4) BNSF 6521(ES44C4)
Views:  154   Comments: 0
Merriam Park Junction On A Sunday Afternoon
Title:  Merriam Park Junction On A Sunday Afternoon
Description:  The west facing signals glow red at Merriam Park Junction on a gray Sunday afternoon in April.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:26:42 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Signal,Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  41   Comments: 0
Milwaukee Road Vintage
Title:  Milwaukee Road Vintage
Description:  This Milwaukee Road vintage switch stand remains in use on the west leg of the wye connecting the former Minnesota Transfer to the former Milwaukee Road in the vicinity of the Minnesota Commercial's roundhouse on Cleveland Avenue.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:19:24 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  39   Comments: 0
Getting Creative
Title:  Getting Creative
Description:  I've seen the 58 so much I decided to get creative with this pic, which incorporates the "sandtower" sign for said structure, rising out of view in the upper center.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:25:58 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster
Locomotives:  MNNR 58(B39-8E)
Views:  200   Comments: 1
Alcosaur!
Title:  Alcosaur!
Description:  I will never get tired of the MNNR's Alcos, such as this gem, which I photographed at their roundhouse this day.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 7:42:20 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster
Locomotives:  MNNR 83(RS18u)
Views:  155   Comments: 0
MNNR 87
Title:  MNNR 87
Description:  Roster shot, taken at the Commercial's roundhouse.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:00:22 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster
Locomotives:  MNNR 87(B39-8E)
Views:  177   Comments: 0
One Of My Usual Suspects
Title:  One Of My Usual Suspects
Description:  A portrait of one of my usual suspects, the Commercial's 88. Here she is resting beneath gray April skies at the Commercial's roundhouse.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:03:56 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster
Locomotives:  MNNR 88(B30-7)
Views:  79   Comments: 0
Ex-Amtrak
Title:  Ex-Amtrak
Description:  One of two boxcars I found parked on the old Milwaukee Road main next to the Minnesota Commercial's roundhouse this day. To think this ex-Amtrak car once may have rolled through this area on the tail end of the "Empire Builder."
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:39:43 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster,RollingStock
Locomotives: 
Views:  86   Comments: 0
Sleeping Yard Slug
Title:  Sleeping Yard Slug
Description:  One of the Commercial's yard slugs, the T-3, sleeps at the roundhouse beneath gray skies on the first Sunday in April, 2017.
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:27:56 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster
Locomotives:  MNNR T-3(Yard Slug)
Views:  78   Comments: 1
Trailing Power On Sand Train
Title:  Trailing Power On Sand Train
Description:  Here is the trailing power on a sand train I caught passing through Midway Yard en route to Union. I wonder why this is the norm on sand trains?
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:56:19 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  RollingStock,Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 4884(C44-9W) BNSF 7932(ES44C4)
Views:  127   Comments: 0
Wisconsin Central Logo?
Title:  Wisconsin Central Logo?
Description:  I spotted this WC logo-shape on a building south of the Minnesota Commercial roundhouse. Was this building a former WC one by chance?
Photo Date:  4/2/2017  Upload Date: 4/2/2017 8:41:10 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  33   Comments: 0
What Have We Here?
Title:  What Have We Here?
Description:  I spotted a stopped eastbound mixed freight in Long Lake which had five units for power. Upon closer inspection, I discovered three of them were from Big Sky Country!
Photo Date:  4/26/2017  Upload Date: 4/26/2017 5:41:24 PM
Location:  Long Lake, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 7409(ES44DC) MRL 250(SD40-2) MRL 255(SD40-2XR) MRL 253(SD40-2XR)
Views:  215   Comments: 1
Montana Rail Link And BNSF
Title:  Montana Rail Link And BNSF
Description:  The fourth and fifth units on an eastbound freight stopped beneath gray April skies evokes the symbiotic relationship between Montana Rail Link and the BNSF.
Photo Date:  4/26/2017  Upload Date: 4/26/2017 5:42:05 PM
Location:  Long Lake, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 5419(C44-9W) MRL 253(SD40-2XR)
Views:  63   Comments: 1
Montana Trio
Title:  Montana Trio
Description:  I have not seen Montana Rail Link engines in ages. I was ecstatic to find three of them as part of the motive power on an eastbound freight stopped for a red signal in Long Lake on this gray April afternoon.
Photo Date:  4/26/2017  Upload Date: 4/26/2017 5:41:50 PM
Location:  Long Lake, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  MRL 253(SD40-2XR) MRL 255(SD40-2XR) MRL 250(SD40-2)
Views:  217   Comments: 1
"Exempt" All Right
Title:  "Exempt" All Right
Description:  The 140th Street North grade crossing in Hugo still has rails, but they end abruptly on the north side, where the rail trail takes over on the old Skally Line.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:32:09 PM
Location:  Hugo, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  49   Comments: 0
Up To The Station On A Switching Move
Title:  Up To The Station On A Switching Move
Description:  What looks like a northbound freight is actually a switch move. The crew had just begun to reverse back into Northtown's north end when I snapped this picture. Still looks nice, though.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 10:02:14 PM
Location:  Fridley, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 5473(C44-9W) BNSF 9375(SD70ACe)
Views:  78   Comments: 1
Northstar And BNSF
Title:  Northstar And BNSF
Description:  The last northbound Northstar of the day approaches Fridley station, passing a BNSF freight pausing in the middle of dropping off cars at Northtown.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:38:39 PM
Location:  Fridley, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Passenger,Action
Locomotives: 
Views:  21   Comments: 0
Green Signal For Northstar
Title:  Green Signal For Northstar
Description:  Loaded with a mix of Twins fans returning from Target Field and commuters, the last northbound Northstar of the day departs Fridley beneath gorgeous May skies.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:42:28 PM
Location:  Fridley, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station,Signal,Passenger,Action
Locomotives: 
Views:  116   Comments: 0
Northstar Power
Title:  Northstar Power
Description:  Portrait of two Northstar units at Fridley station.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:41:34 PM
Location:  Fridley, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station,Passenger,Action
Locomotives:  MNRX 505(MP36PH-3C) MNRX 504(MP36PH-3C)
Views:  58   Comments: 0
Northbound Northstar
Title:  Northbound Northstar
Description:  The last northbound run of the day stops at Fridley station, where many Twins fans returning from Target field will get off and a handful of commuters will board.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:51:51 PM
Location:  Fridley, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station,Passenger,Action
Locomotives:  MNRX 504(MP36PH-3C) MNRX 505(MP36PH-3C)
Views:  68   Comments: 0
Skally South of 140th
Title:  Skally South of 140th
Description:  The Skally Line regains its rails south of 140th Street North. The jointed rail goes back to the days of the Northern Pacific, which once wheeled freight and passenger trains through here going to and from the Twin Ports.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:38:01 PM
Location:  Hugo, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  64   Comments: 0
The Whole Train
Title:  The Whole Train
Description:  Finally, here is a portrait of the whole train. The motive power had nine steel coil cars and three empty bulkhead flats strung out behind them. All these cars were destined for shippers located west of Highway 169 along Uncle Pete's Golden Valley Industrial Lead. This line has roots back to not only the Chicago and North Western but also the Minneapolis & St. Louis and the Minnesota Western.
Photo Date:  7/13/2017  Upload Date: 7/13/2017 11:09:29 PM
Location:  Golden Valley, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  UP 706(GP38-2) UP 1106(GP60)
Views:  344   Comments: 0
Out To Lunch?
Title:  Out To Lunch?
Description:  A closer look at the stopped Union Pacific local I came across early on the afternoon of July 13 along the Golden Valley Industrial Lead (ex-Chicago and North Western, exx-Minneapolis & St. Louis, exx-Minnesota Western). Looks like the crew had gone to lunch (aka "beans")?
Photo Date:  7/13/2017  Upload Date: 7/13/2017 11:08:49 PM
Location:  Golden Valley, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  UP 706(GP38-2) UP 1106(GP60)
Views:  336   Comments: 0
Paused Local
Title:  Paused Local
Description:  The Union Pacific local sits paused just east of Highway 169 and Mendelsshon Avenue North on an unseasonably cloudy and cool July afternoon.
Photo Date:  7/13/2017  Upload Date: 7/13/2017 11:07:40 PM
Location:  Golden Valley, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  UP 706(GP38-2) UP 1106(GP60)
Views:  362   Comments: 0
Veteran Unit
Title:  Veteran Unit
Description:  Riverland SG's veteran SW unit (SW-1?) sits beneath warm, hazy skies at Riverland AG on a Thursday afternoon.
Photo Date:  7/20/2017  Upload Date: 7/20/2017 7:55:54 PM
Location:  Shakopee, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster
Locomotives: 
Views:  63   Comments: 1
"Looney Tunes" Link?
Title:  "Looney Tunes" Link?
Description:  Some wag decorated this Montana Rail Link hopper with Marvin the Martian, flanked by urban art that is impossible to decipher. Looks like some punks and a Looney Tunes fan tagged this car.
Photo Date:  7/20/2017  Upload Date: 7/20/2017 7:57:17 PM
Location:  Shakopee, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  RollingStock
Locomotives: 
Views:  61   Comments: 0
Back At Valley Park
Title:  Back At Valley Park
Description:  The Valley Park yard power cools its heels after the crew brought them back to the yard after a jaunt up the old Omaha main line on a warm, hazy Thursday.
Photo Date:  7/20/2017  Upload Date: 7/20/2017 7:55:11 PM
Location:  Shakopee, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Yard
Locomotives:  UP 716(GP38-2) UP 664(GP38-2)
Views:  211   Comments: 0
Overgrown To Beat The Band
Title:  Overgrown To Beat The Band
Description:  My goodness gosh but vegetation sure took root after the Soo Line ceased operations between Savage and Lakeville on the old MN&S in the early 1990s! In this shot we are just over the Savage/Burnsville border, near Court Place in Burnsville.
Photo Date:  7/24/2017  Upload Date: 7/24/2017 7:48:43 PM
Location:  Burnsville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  54   Comments: 0
Marion Savage Would Weep
Title:  Marion Savage Would Weep
Description:  The Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern was the successor to an interurban railroad popularly called The Dan Patch Line, after the famous horse owned by the railroad's owner, Marion Savage. If Mr. Savage could see how buried in vegetation his railroad is in between Savage and Lakeville, he would weep. I sure wish Canadian Pacific would rehab and reopen this line as a bypass for Twin Cities congestion, as they have been thinking of doing. Anyway, in this shot we are looking south along the old Dan Patch/MN&S from near Court Place.
Photo Date:  7/24/2017  Upload Date: 7/24/2017 7:49:20 PM
Location:  Burnsville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  48   Comments: 0
A Glimpse Of Track
Title:  A Glimpse Of Track
Description:  Interurbans to freights to football specials once traversed these rusty rails on the old Dan Patch/Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern main line. A footpath crossing the Burnsville/Savage border between Court Place in Burnsville and a Savage city trail has kept the vegetation cleared to the point the rails are visible. A rare sight along the line in Burnsville, where overgrowth is the thickest.
Photo Date:  7/24/2017  Upload Date: 7/24/2017 7:47:31 PM
Location:  Burnsville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  139   Comments: 0
MP 7502 In Savage
Title:  MP 7502 In Savage
Description:  Caboose was on the end of a short crane train. What a catch!
Photo Date:  8/19/2017  Upload Date: 8/19/2017 8:37:19 PM
Location:  Savage, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Roster,RollingStock
Locomotives: 
Views:  151   Comments: 1
Parked Crane Train
Title:  Parked Crane Train
Description:  A crane train sits parked along the old Omaha in downtown Savage on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. This job had been parked here for at least a week.
Photo Date:  8/19/2017  Upload Date: 8/19/2017 8:36:44 PM
Location:  Savage, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  RollingStock
Locomotives: 
Views:  28   Comments: 0
Goodbye Long Lake
Title:  Goodbye Long Lake
Description:  An eastbound general freight heads east through Long Lake, soon to exit my home suburb on Sunday evening, Labor Day Weekend 2017. I
Photo Date:  9/3/2017  Upload Date: 9/3/2017 8:22:23 PM
Location:  Long Lake, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 6931(ES44C4) BNSF 3934(ET44C4)
Views:  180   Comments: 0
Out Of The Smoke Tinged Sun
Title:  Out Of The Smoke Tinged Sun
Description:  An eastbound general freight with a quartet of GEs at the crew's beck and call races out of the smoke tinged evening sun and splits the signals on Labor Day weekend 2017.
Photo Date:  9/3/2017  Upload Date: 9/3/2017 8:22:06 PM
Location:  Long Lake, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Signal,Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 6624(ES44C4)
Views:  49   Comments: 1
Trackside Decor
Title:  Trackside Decor
Description:  This piece of trackside decor is along the BNSF in Anoka.
Photo Date:  9/15/2017  Upload Date: 9/16/2017 10:11:09 PM
Location:  Anoka, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  32   Comments: 0
The Last That Made Us Late
Title:  The Last That Made Us Late
Description:  The fifth and last train that held up the 261's fall color trip to Winthrop, another intermodal, northbound this time, passes the train at Minneapolis Junction. Picture taken from coach "Nokomis."
Photo Date:  9/30/2017  Upload Date: 10/1/2017 7:44:41 PM
Location:  Minneapolis, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Passenger,Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 8200(ES44C4)
Views:  132   Comments: 0
What Made Us So Late
Title:  What Made Us So Late
Description:  Here is the fourth of five trains that held up the 261 fall colors trip to Winthrop, passing the train at Minneapolis Junction. This one was a southbound intermodal.
Photo Date:  9/30/2017  Upload Date: 10/1/2017 7:41:02 PM
Location:  Minneapolis, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 6760(ES44C4)
Views:  97   Comments: 0
Where The Louie Meets The Milwaukee
Title:  Where The Louie Meets The Milwaukee
Description:  We are at the grade crossing east of Beltline Boulevard along the Three Rivers trail. Here is where the old Minneapolis & St. Louis connects with the old Milwaukee Road, and also where the trail switches from the Louie to the Milwaukee. Today the entire line is known as the Bass Lake Spur. How this spot will look after the Southwest LRT is built is anyone's guess (if the Southwest line is even built, that is).
Photo Date:  10/1/2017  Upload Date: 10/1/2017 7:49:54 PM
Location:  Saint Louis Park, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  71   Comments: 0
More Rail
Title:  More Rail
Description:  More rail stashed along the Bass Lake Spur east of Beltline Boulevard. Why is this stuff here?
Photo Date:  10/1/2017  Upload Date: 10/1/2017 7:50:58 PM
Location:  Saint Louis Park, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  34   Comments: 1
Rail
Title:  Rail
Description:  Some rail stashed along the Bass Lake Spur east of Beltline Boulevard.
Photo Date:  10/1/2017  Upload Date: 10/1/2017 7:50:39 PM
Location:  Saint Louis Park, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  18   Comments: 0
Leaving Long Lake
Title:  Leaving Long Lake
Description:  The crew of a westbound grain train gets a move on after meeting an eastbound train in Long Lake.
Photo Date:  10/3/2017  Upload Date: 10/6/2017 10:42:21 PM
Location:  Long Lake, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 6805(ES44C4) BNSF 6936(ES44C4) BNSF 4484(C44-9W)
Views:  215   Comments: 0
On Past The Fall Color
Title:  On Past The Fall Color
Description:  A departing westbound grain train passes budding fall color as the train emerges from beneath Brown Road.
Photo Date:  10/3/2017  Upload Date: 10/6/2017 10:42:41 PM
Location:  Long Lake, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Action
Locomotives:  BNSF 4484(C44-9W) BNSF 6936(ES44C4) BNSF 6805(ES44C4)
Views:  223   Comments: 0
Line O' Boxcars
Title:  Line O' Boxcars
Description:  A string of boxcars, including two of the ex-Amtrak mail and express types commonly found on the Progressive Rail, sits beneath gray skies at PGR's Bloomington freight house.
Photo Date:  10/3/2017  Upload Date: 10/6/2017 10:40:58 PM
Location:  Bloomington, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  RollingStock
Locomotives: 
Views:  80   Comments: 0


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