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2/24/2025
 
 
 
 
 
By:Tony Held
Dates:9/4/2014 - 4/13/2021
Album Info:More vistas from abandoned lines, and some not-so abandoned which have traces of previous owners still extant here and there.
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Wiped Out Great Western
Title:  Wiped Out Great Western
Description:  Here is the former Chicago Great Western north of County Road N. The old main line has been wiped out by now, but the area it was located in is easy to discern.
Photo Date:  11/5/2016  Upload Date: 11/5/2016 8:40:53 PM
Location:  Hayfield, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  90   Comments: 0
From The Great Western To The DNR
Title:  From The Great Western To The DNR
Description:  This is the Iron Horse Scientific and Natural Area in Hayfield, located smack dab on top of the old junction of the Chicago Great Western's lines to Chicago and Omaha. Some of it is green lawn while the remainder is covered in natural grasses. The CGW was, obviously, double track here.
Photo Date:  11/5/2016  Upload Date: 11/5/2016 8:40:23 PM
Location:  Hayfield, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  53   Comments: 0
Still There
Title:  Still There
Description:  Another look at the small Chicago Great Western bridge which crosses a creek north of Racine along a stretch of intact CGW grade along the old route from Rochester to Iowa.
Photo Date:  11/5/2016  Upload Date: 11/5/2016 8:57:17 PM
Location:  Racine, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  54   Comments: 0
Track Ballast!
Title:  Track Ballast!
Description:  The lawn at the entrance to Iron Horse Prairie in Hayfield contains this bit of track ballast which has lasted here since rails went up in 1984.
Photo Date:  11/5/2016  Upload Date: 11/5/2016 8:41:52 PM
Location:  Hayfield, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  75   Comments: 0
Nod To The Rails
Title:  Nod To The Rails
Description:  Not sure if that is a Chicago Great Western train, but the sign at Iron Horse Prairie includes this nod to its railway heritage.
Photo Date:  11/5/2016  Upload Date: 11/5/2016 8:42:21 PM
Location:  Hayfield, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Steam,Passenger
Locomotives: 
Views:  61   Comments: 0
Skally Looking North
Title:  Skally Looking North
Description:  Looking north on the Skally from the Flay Avenue area. The right of way is so well preserved that my imagination can picture the headlight of a southbound train in the distance.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:13:16 PM
Location:  Hugo, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  33   Comments: 0
Skally Looking South
Title:  Skally Looking South
Description:  A view of the Skally from the Flay Avenue area, looking south. I assume this is the original alignment of the Northern Pacific through Hugo?
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:12:52 PM
Location:  Hugo, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  17   Comments: 0
Where The Rails End
Title:  Where The Rails End
Description:  At 140th Street North, the intact portion of the Skally Line in Hugo comes to an abrupt end and the trail takes over. What a sight!
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:13:53 PM
Location:  Hugo, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  64   Comments: 0
Skally At 159th
Title:  Skally At 159th
Description:  The Skally Line trail at 159th Street North on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in May.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:10:27 PM
Location:  Hugo, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  29   Comments: 0
Skally At Flay
Title:  Skally At Flay
Description:  The Skally Line at Flay Avenue basks beneath May skies that beckoned to trail users. I still would settle for a pair of Northern Pacific SD45s leading a train through here, though.
Photo Date:  5/7/2017  Upload Date: 5/7/2017 9:10:56 PM
Location:  Hugo, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  23   Comments: 0
Depot Girll Marquee
Title:  Depot Girll Marquee
Description:  The marquee of the Depot Grill still shows a stylized version of the Minnesota Zephyr years after the train was trucked out of town.
Photo Date:  5/27/2017  Upload Date: 5/27/2017 8:40:53 PM
Location:  Stillwater, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station
Locomotives: 
Views:  49   Comments: 0
Closed And Forlorn
Title:  Closed And Forlorn
Description:  The Stillwater Depot Grill, former home of the Minnesota Zephyr, is a pool of quiet in the vibrant midst of downtown Stillwater on Memorial Day weekend 2017.
Photo Date:  5/27/2017  Upload Date: 5/27/2017 8:22:48 PM
Location:  Stillwater, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station
Locomotives: 
Views:  48   Comments: 0
The Time Machine Is Gone
Title:  The Time Machine Is Gone
Description:  This sign touting the Minnesota Zephyr still remains beneath the sign for the Depot Grill. "Travel back in time"? Sorry, the time machine is now gone, folks.
Photo Date:  5/27/2017  Upload Date: 5/27/2017 8:23:46 PM
Location:  Stillwater, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station
Locomotives: 
Views:  42   Comments: 0
Platform Bereft Of Rails
Title:  Platform Bereft Of Rails
Description:  The platform side of the Depot Grill is bereft of the rails that once held the colorful Minnesota Zephyr. Brown's Creek Trail is at far right.
Photo Date:  5/27/2017  Upload Date: 5/27/2017 8:15:57 PM
Location:  Stillwater, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station
Locomotives: 
Views:  56   Comments: 0
No More Passengers To Shuttle
Title:  No More Passengers To Shuttle
Description:  This former Valley Fair trolley was used to shuttle passengers from downtown Stillwater to the Depot Grill. Now the grill is closed and the trolley is wrapped up awaiting a new home.
Photo Date:  5/27/2017  Upload Date: 5/27/2017 8:04:41 PM
Location:  Stillwater, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station
Locomotives: 
Views:  30   Comments: 0
Front End
Title:  Front End
Description:  A view of the front end of the ex-Valley Fair trolley parked on a surviving piece of track at the now closed Depot Grill. I have fond memories of riding these cars when I was a kid.
Photo Date:  5/27/2017  Upload Date: 5/27/2017 8:05:46 PM
Location:  Stillwater, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station
Locomotives: 
Views:  40   Comments: 0
Oasis Of Rails
Title:  Oasis Of Rails
Description:  An oasis of rails remains at the closed Depot Grill, housing this former Valley Fair trolley. Note the Brown's Creek Trail at right, which now occupies the former Northern Pacific corridor the Minnesota Zephyr once operated on.
Photo Date:  5/27/2017  Upload Date: 5/27/2017 8:03:24 PM
Location:  Stillwater, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Station,Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  54   Comments: 0
Trolley Truck
Title:  Trolley Truck
Description:  A view of the trolley truck on the ex-Valley Fair trolley at Stillwater. Landlocked but good, this car is in need of a new home.
Photo Date:  5/27/2017  Upload Date: 5/27/2017 8:06:27 PM
Location:  Stillwater, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  51   Comments: 0
What An Outrage!
Title:  What An Outrage!
Description:  We are looking south towards Pioneer Trail while along the old Louie main line at the start of Chaska Hill. For years the trail has been closed here because, apparently, Three Rivers Parks lacks the money to fix damage caused by mudslides! Were the old Louie still in use, however, the line would have been reopened long before. This is a graphic example of why rail trails are not beneficial to preserving the integrity of rail corridors. The trail owners drag their feet on making repairs! Oh for the return of Lucian C. Sprague and the glory days of the Minneapolis & St. Louis. Mr. Sprague would have had Chaska Hill fixed in no time, my friends.
Photo Date:  6/19/2017  Upload Date: 6/19/2017 8:26:27 PM
Location:  Eden Prairie, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  66   Comments: 0
Tootin' Louie Trail
Title:  Tootin' Louie Trail
Description:  A late afternoon look northwest on the old Minneapolis & St. Louis main line from down by the bridge on Pioneer Trail.
Photo Date:  6/19/2017  Upload Date: 6/19/2017 8:25:39 PM
Location:  Eden Prairie, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  29   Comments: 0
The Trail That Replaced Long Gone Rail
Title:  The Trail That Replaced Long Gone Rail
Description:  Now we are just west of I-35 on the Lakeville trail that replaced the long gone rails of the Milwaukee Road's Hastings & Dakota Division here. Judging by how the grade is gone east of Kendrick Avenue and west of the business you see in the distance, this hunk of grade was obviously wild and overgrown before Lakeville decided to route one of its trails along it.
Photo Date:  12/3/2017  Upload Date: 12/3/2017 8:37:18 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  52   Comments: 0
From Milwaukee Road To Lakeville Trail
Title:  From Milwaukee Road To Lakeville Trail
Description:  A surviving fragment of right-of-way left from the Milwaukee Road's Hastings & Dakota line was incorporated into a Lakeville city trail The fragment starts west of Kendrick Avenue (center background) and passes under I-35, stopping abruptly where development wiped out the line a mile west of here.
Photo Date:  12/3/2017  Upload Date: 12/3/2017 8:32:44 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  52   Comments: 0
Looking West On The Hastings & Dakota At I-35
Title:  Looking West On The Hastings & Dakota At I-35
Description:  A fragment of right-of-way that belonged to the Milwaukee Road's Hastings & Dakota line still exists in Lakeville. Now in use as a city trail, this fragment stretches from west of Kendrick Avenue to the business you can see in the distance. I-35 is the bridge above, and 205th Street West is the road at right.
Photo Date:  12/3/2017  Upload Date: 12/3/2017 8:27:54 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  37   Comments: 0
Through The Trees
Title:  Through The Trees
Description:  A view through the trees on the southwest side of the Luce Line's Crow River bridge.
Photo Date:  1/18/2018  Upload Date: 1/18/2018 9:21:15 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  63   Comments: 0
Deck Girder
Title:  Deck Girder
Description:  The surviving deck girder portion of the Luce Line Crow River bridge, as viewed from the northeast end of the crossing. Click here for more details on this bridge: http://johnmarvigbridges.org/Watertown%20Railroad%20Bridge.html
Photo Date:  1/18/2018  Upload Date: 1/18/2018 9:20:09 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  76   Comments: 0
Rail And Trail
Title:  Rail And Trail
Description:  The reason the Luce Line's Crow River bridge is a mix of rail and trail is because the trestle approach spans were torn out post-abandonment but the center span was retained. The result was this hybrid when the trail was built. Shame about those trestle approach spans, but you can still smell the railroad on the center span.
Photo Date:  1/18/2018  Upload Date: 1/18/2018 9:18:35 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  76   Comments: 0
Old And New
Title:  Old And New
Description:  The Luce Line Trail bridge over the Crow River is now a mix of old and new. The center span is vintage Minnesota Western/Louie/North Western, but the approach spans are all Luce Line.
Photo Date:  1/18/2018  Upload Date: 1/18/2018 9:16:16 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  56   Comments: 0
Looking Toward The Crow
Title:  Looking Toward The Crow
Description:  A view south-southwest from White St. looking toward the Crow River and the bridge. Too bad about those approach trestles, but the trail was not a done deal when the rails went up after abandonment in 1970.
Photo Date:  1/18/2018  Upload Date: 1/18/2018 9:42:26 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  61   Comments: 0
Looking Down The Luce
Title:  Looking Down The Luce
Description:  Looking east along the Luce Line from White St. I wish this line still was in operation, but oh well.
Photo Date:  1/18/2018  Upload Date: 1/18/2018 9:42:04 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  66   Comments: 0
Now You Don't See Them...
Title:  Now You Don't See Them...
Description:  Walking to the end of this disused spur, we come to a place where the rails are covered in dirty.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 8:39:35 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  93   Comments: 0
Not Valuable Enough To Scrap
Title:  Not Valuable Enough To Scrap
Description:  Spur tracks do not seem to entice many scrap buyers, explaining the longevity of this now heavily overgrown spur in Lakeville.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 8:35:30 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  123   Comments: 1
Disused Spur
Title:  Disused Spur
Description:  A disused spur track can be found near the former M.N.&S./Milwaukee Road crossing in Lakeville.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 8:27:44 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  92   Comments: 0
End Of Track
Title:  End Of Track
Description:  End of track on the old spur I found near the old Milwaukee Road/Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern crossing in Lakeville. I cannot locate this track in any photos of when the crossing was in use, so my best guess is that this track was put in to serve a now-gone shipper after the Milwaukee Road left Lakeville.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 8:41:12 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  97   Comments: 0
...Now You Do
Title:  ...Now You Do
Description:  Past a dirt patch, the disused spur's rails emerge again, though sod, not ballast, has been what's holding them together for eons.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 8:40:44 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  72   Comments: 0
Overgrown Spur
Title:  Overgrown Spur
Description:  This disused spur track located in Lakeville is now heavily overgrown, as is customary for such disused pieces of railway. Apparently the track connected to the old Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern in the upper left background.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 8:34:46 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  93   Comments: 0
Not A Train In Years, But Not Paved Over
Title:  Not A Train In Years, But Not Paved Over
Description:  The trail builders did not pave over the rails of this disused spur track near the old Northfield and Southern/Milwaukee Road crossing site for some reason. choosing to bracket them instead.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 8:28:28 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  120   Comments: 0
Signal Base Remains At M)N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crossing Site
Title:  Signal Base Remains At M)N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crossing Site
Description:  The remains of the base for the east facing signal along the Milwaukee Road's Hastings & Dakota Division at the site of the crossing with the/Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern remain to this day as a monument to the Milwaukee Road in Lakeville.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 7:53:36 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Signal
Locomotives: 
Views:  77   Comments: 0
Former M.N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crossing
Title:  Former M.N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crossing
Description:  Looking east at the site of the former Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern/Milwaukee Road Hastings & Dakota Divison crossing. Trail sign at right is best heeded, because this stretch of track is still live.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 7:39:27 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  80   Comments: 0
Former M.N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crmssing
Title:  Former M.N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crmssing
Description:  Looking north at the site of the former Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern/Milwaukee Road Hastings & Dakota Division crossing. Interchange and industrial tracks were at right.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 7:40:37 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  83   Comments: 0
Former M.N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crossing
Title:  Former M.N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crossing
Description:  Looking south at the site of the former Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern/Milwaukee Road Hastings & Dakota Division crossing. H&D Division crossed from right to left.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 7:41:35 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  86   Comments: 0
Former M.N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crossing
Title:  Former M.N.& S./Milwaukee Road Crossing
Description:  Looking west at the site of the Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern/Milwaukee Road Hastings & Dakota Division crossing. Despite drastic changes since the Milwaukee's Rails went up in the 1970s, the trail at the center of the photo runs along a surviving fragment of grade for a few blocks west of the crossing site. Trail users should still be train aware at the old M.N.& S. due to switching and car storage moves made by Progressive Rail.
Photo Date:  5/2/2018  Upload Date: 5/4/2018 7:41:53 PM
Location:  Lakeville, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  87   Comments: 0
Relics On Borrowed Time
Title:  Relics On Borrowed Time
Description:  These relics at the former junction of the Minneapolis & St. Louis's main line and its line to Morton are now on borrowed time thanks to, ironcially, the Southwest LRT project. When that line comes through here, these relics will vanish.
Photo Date:  6/9/2019  Upload Date: 6/15/2019 8:10:02 PM
Location:  Hopkins, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  78   Comments: 0
Silent Transfer Table
Title:  Silent Transfer Table
Description:  The transfer table at the old Northern Pacific Como Shops, now Bandana Square, silently waits out another day long after being stuffed and mounted as a display piece. The stage on wheels, which was once a wooden caboose, has not seen a concert in decades.
Photo Date:  6/15/2019  Upload Date: 6/15/2019 8:11:02 PM
Location:  Saint Paul, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  RollingStock,Track
Locomotives: 
Views:  57   Comments: 0
Deck Girder Span, Top View
Title:  Deck Girder Span, Top View
Description:  A top view of the deck plate girder span, a Minnesota Western relic that now forms the main span of the Luce Line's Crow River bridge.
Photo Date:  9/3/2019  Upload Date: 9/4/2019 8:31:32 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  65   Comments: 0
East Side
Title:  East Side
Description:  The east side of the Luce Line Crow River bridge in Watertown, Minnesota. Only the center span is former Minnesota Western.
Photo Date:  9/3/2019  Upload Date: 9/4/2019 8:19:37 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  53   Comments: 0
Looking West
Title:  Looking West
Description:  Looking west down the Luce Line toward the Crow River bridge late on a mild, pleasant Tuesday afternoon.
Photo Date:  9/3/2019  Upload Date: 9/4/2019 8:17:58 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  52   Comments: 0
Looking East
Title:  Looking East
Description:  Luce Line trail, looking east from White Street Southeast late on a cool, breezy Tuesday afternoon.
Photo Date:  9/3/2019  Upload Date: 9/4/2019 8:16:52 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
Locomotives: 
Views:  29   Comments: 0
Minnesota Western Reminder
Title:  Minnesota Western Reminder
Description:  The main span of the Luce Line's Crow River bridge is this deck plate girder. Incongruously, the Chicago and North Western demolished the approach trestles but left the main span in place when the Luce was abandoned in 1970. Prefab pedestrian bridge sections now fill those gaps.
Photo Date:  9/3/2019  Upload Date: 9/4/2019 8:30:17 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  81   Comments: 0
West Side
Title:  West Side
Description:  The west side of the Luce Line Crow River bridge.
Photo Date:  9/3/2019  Upload Date: 9/4/2019 8:23:32 PM
Location:  Watertown, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories:  Bridge
Locomotives: 
Views:  45   Comments: 0
Juniper Street Car Park
Title:  Juniper Street Car Park
Description:  This is Juniper Street Car (their spelling) Park in Mahtomedi. A stop on the Twin Cities Rapid Transit system was located on the site of the park, and the paved trail to the left occupies the TCRT right of way.
Photo Date:  4/3/2021  Upload Date: 4/3/2021 8:28:17 PM
Location:  Mahtomedi, MN
Author:  Tony Held
Categories: 
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Views:  21   Comments: 0


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