Steve, I first saw the GN mixed train when we moved from South Minneapolis to North Minneapolis near Broadway Avenue. That part of town was still safe in those days. Anyway, that would have been August 1954, and we lived there until 1963. I saw the train usually on a Saturday morning when we came down from North Lyndale toward the so-called bottleneck when Hennepin Avenue, Bryant, and Lyndale diverge. That is, of course, all different now, but you can probably recall what it was like back in the day.
The baggage-coach must have had a Baker heater because in my recollection, it was at the end of the train. Had I known what a scenic view that car gave passengers as it crossed the bays, sloughs, and inlets of Lake Minnetonka, I would have hopped on in a heartbeata. I had an interlude in Hutchinson from 1957 to 1959. I believe the mixed still ran as late as 1959. I recall that if one got to the GN station before 7:45 when the Hutchinson train departed, one could see that the train had its own departure sign just like the "Empire Builder" and the "Western Star". Yes, that's one that really got away. Steve, I do not know exactly where the mixed diverged from the GN main. Would it have passed through Wayzata. Tom ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Steve Doyle [[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2012 8:07 AM To: [email protected] Subject: {S-Scale List} To the Traveling Man Re: To the traveling man Posted by: "Thomas Baker" [email protected] millcitieslimited Fri Feb 10, 2012 8:31 am (PST) Ken, Your commentary brings back memories. I recall seeing the Minneapolis- Hutchinson mixed train switching cars on the yard tracks that we under Lyndale Avenue. The mixed always had one of those rare GN NW-5 units equipped with a boiler but still carried an ancient combine painted in Pullman green. Although I lived two years in Hutchinson, I regret not riding the mixed on Friday afternoon back to Minneapolis. Wending its way around and over the Minnetonka lakes and bays, the train would have offered some scenic vistas one never sees from Highway #7. I had plenty of opportunities to take that ride but never did.... Tom Hey, Tom, what years were those memories of yours regarding the GN line that crossed our driveway? I've seen photos of the passenger cars that was part of one of those short consists. It's private varnish somewhere, I read. If I had the room for a second layout (heck, I barely have room for the first), modeling that short line from Wayzata out to Hutch would have provided some great scenes as it wound its way around the bays, sloughs and eventually farmland. I paralleled this line while it was still operating and it was dotted with grain elevators and rural small sidings. The trackage looked like bacon! I'm sorry it's gone and hope that someday the State or Feds will deem it worth it to put in a light rail line into downtown Minneapolis. Anyway, back to S! Ken stopped over last night to continue work on a curved turnout at the Chicago yard lead. It's a tight fit and will probably call for one more curved turnout before he's finished, but we're halfway there. While he worked on that, I was back in the coachyard installing new plastic gears in an old Bowser motorkit, installing it on the bottom of the turntable and screwing it down in the benchwork. Applied the power and the darn thing works! The turntable bridge slowly moves in the arc, giving me the ability to turn incoming steam from either the Chicago Yard or hidden storage from the boiler room. When I get into operating sessions, the value of the turntable and the efforts of Ken and Ron Kemp with the sledgehammers will become more evident. Right now it's just fun to turn 'em and send them out. Steve ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
