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Jackson Street Roundhouse Visit 8/10/2009

After visiting Bandana Square, my next stop was the Jackson Street Roundhouse.

The Minnesota Transportation Museum holds a unique place in the City of St. Paul, State of Minnesota and for the nation. The Jackson Street Roundhouse is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places and is home to a rich array of historical collections from active railcar restorations to railway memorabilia. The museum also operates seasonal passenger train rides through the St. Croix River Valley on Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway. As one of the last operating roundhouses built by James J. Hill to serve the Great Northern Railway, the Jackson Street Roundhouse had a direct role in the economic and cultural development of our region and the westward expansion of the United States.

Its mission is to educate, inspire, entertain and engage visitors by sharing the story of rail transportation history in the Upper Midwest region and how its evolution shapes our lives, culture(s), economy and society. The vision is to collect, preserve, restore and provide resources for visitors, researchers, partners, our communities and future generations.

The Jackson Street Roundhouse was built in 1907 and was one of the last roundhouses built by the "Empire Builder", James J. Hill. It replaced a smaller wooden engine-house of Saint Paul & Pacific. The Roundhouse was part of a large shop complex built in the 1880s. Located near downtown Saint Paul just north and east of the State Capitol, the complex had been sold by Great Northern in 1960. The Roundhouse was then remodelled as a warehouse/industrial building. All the tracks were removed and an addition was built where the turntable used to be.

MTM took possession of the Roundhouse in 1986, acquiring a substantial mortgage. Jackson Street was restored as an operating roundhouse, but with several changes. It is MTM’s back shop, but it also houses exhibitions, archives, an audio-visual theater, a meeting room and offices. The turntable was re-installed in 2001, and the connection with the current day BNSF was restored along with five yard tracks. BNSF cleaned up the environmental pollution which was mostly petroleum in the groundwater. The large mortgage was paid off through the generous financial support of longtime director Arthur E. Pew III and others.

The Museum at Jackson Street Roundhouse opened in 1999. In March of that year, MTM hired its first paid Executive Director and the administrative offices moved into a renovated space, shared with the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Historical Societies. They and MTM are creating an archive with climate-controlled space and a combined cataloging system.

Northern Pacific wooden caboose 1264, nee Northern Pacific 1144 built by South Baltimore Car Works in 1901 and was on the railroad's roster for sixty-eight years. When this car was retired in 1969, it was the oldest caboose still in service on the railroad.

Around 1901-1902, the Northern Pacific was experiencing a severe shortage of cabooses. This was in part due to an unusual number of accidents involving cabooses. Sixteen were destroyed in 1900 and twenty-two in 1901. As a result, the Northern Pacific purchased several batches of new cabooses in 1901 and 1902 and 1144 was one of thirty 26-foot long cabooses produced there that year for the Northern Pacific Railway. They were constructed with wood bodies and wood underframes. When delivered to the railroad, these cars carried road numbers 1139 through 1168. The purchase price of No. 1144 in 1901 was $994.76.

Caboose 1144 apparently spent most of its life on the west end of the Northern Pacific. As of October 1920, it was at Pasco, Washington. In May 1939, 1144 was in service on the railroad's Idaho Division which had its headquarters at Spokane, Washington. The Idaho Division handled trains between Paradise, Montana and Yakima, Washington. The division's major yard and service facilities were at Parkwater, just east of Spokane. In July 1939, 1144 was sent to the railroad's shops at South Tacoma for a complete rebuilding. The car's body was shortened to 24 feet from its original 26-foot length. In addition, a steel underframe was applied, replacing the original wooden one. The caboose then returned to service on the Idaho Division.

Still based at Parkwater, the caboose was renumbered 1264 in May 1942, the third instance of that number on the railroad. Upon retirement, it was listed as "dismantled" as of July 29, 1969. Reportedly, it was donated to a retired employee that year. After passing through several owners, the wood body of this caboose was eventually acquired by the Minnesota Transportation Museum. Somewhere along the line, the number of the car was mistakenly changed to 1294 and it carried this number for some years.

In the recent past, caboose 1264 has been located at the Minnesota Transportation Museum's Jackson Street Roundhouse where it served as an office for the supervisor of renovation work at the roundhouse. Subsequently the car was moved to the east side of the roundhouse to make room for major renovation work on the west side of the building. In 2000 the Minnesota Transportation Museum undertook major reconstruction of 1264 to replace timbers and siding which had decayed. During the process of rebuilding, workers discovered the caboose's correct number, 1264, stamped into some of its window frames. Such a stamping of a car number was a common practice at railroad shops so that parts from different cars would not get mixed up.

SOO Line baggage-mail-express car 101, nee Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic baggage-mail-express car 101 built by Barney and Smith in 1915. The Soo Line inherited it when it absorbed the Duluth, South Shore, & Atlantic then in 1964, it went to the Bridge & Building department. It was acquired by the Museum in 1987.

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific commuter coach 2529 built by Standard Steel Car Company in 1925. Known as a "Capone" car, it served for decades in Chicago commuter service then was acquired by MTM in 1981. It has been placed on a display track at the Jackson Street Roundhouse.

Great Northern coach 1224 "Empire Builder" built by Pullman-Standard in 1950. In 1955, the Empire Builder was re-equipped with dome cars. This very popular feature splits the car into two levels. The upper level is raised and has a glass roof, giving an outstanding view of the scenery along the route. The lower level is below the normal floor level, and incorporates the through-hallway.

Each of the six trains received three dome-coaches, which replaced 1215-1232 car-for-car. The dome section was about a quarter of the car's length and the restrooms occupied the space under the dome. There was also a dome-lounge in the first class area at the rear of the train, whose dome spanned the full length of the car. Bumped from the Empire Builder by the dome coaches, coach 1224 filled coach slots in the more utilitarian long-distance "Western Star" and in short-distance trains like the "Coast Pool", "International", "Dakotan", "Red River", and "Gopher"/"Badger". They served these trains for fifteen years, from 1955 through 1969.

The 1970’s brought changes. First was the Burlington Northern merger of 1970. Then Amtrak took over the Nation’s passenger trains in 1971. None these coaches were selected by Amtrak, so they were placed in storage by the BN. In 1973, New Jersey Transit purchased roughly fourty coaches from BN, including 1224, which became their 5318. Except for one restroom, the entire interior was removed and replaced with enough walk-over seats for 108 commuters. The double-pane windows were replaced with plexiglass at the same time.

By 1987, enough new equipment was on hand, and the old GN coaches were retired. In 1991, the United Railway Historical Society acquired roughly twenty of the old GN coaches from NJ Transit for restoration and use in excusions. Eight were restored with grants and are used for excursion service. However, they had more coaches than they needed, and in the late 1990's eight were given to the Pacific Railroad Preservation Association, of Spokane, Portland and Seattle fame. In 2003, the URHS declared the last four unrestored GN cars, 1215, 1223, 1224 and 1229, surplus and offered them to other museums. MTM picked the two they felt were most desirable, 1215 and 1224. They arrived at Jackson Street in July 2005.

Rutledge station. I then sat on a bench and waited for Dan, one of the museum's volunteers, to arrive which he did in a few minutes.

A crossing signal while I waited.

Minnesota, St. Paul, Rochester & Dubuque Election Traction Company (Dan Patch Electric Lines) boxcab gas-electric 100, built by General Electric in 1913 and claimed to be the first internal-combustion freight locomotive constructed in the United States. Later acquired by the Minneapolis, Anokn & Cayuna Range Railroad, the engine was repowered in 1957 with a Waukesha diesel engine. When the MA&CR was acquired by the Great Northern in 1966, 100, still operable, was donated to the MTM. Over the years, the unit was repainted into its original blue livery, and rebuilt by the museum for excursions with Northern Pacific 328. 100 operated occasionally into the 1980's, but due to its limited power, has been in storage for the past decade.

Great Northern box car 13397 built by the railroad in 1960. Never repainted in Burlington Northern Cascade Green, or renumbered into the Burlington Northern number scheme, it was retired and donated to MTM when BN's Como Shops closed. MTM leased space there and during the closure had the opportunity to take several "to be repaired" boxcars and stuff them full of cast-off shop tools and repair parts. It spent several years stored in the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills, and eventually moved to Jackson Street in about 2003.

The peculiar double-door arrangement, with one 'normal' sliding door and one plug door, was devised to make box cars more flexible. For shipping grain (in the days before covered hoppers) the 'normal' six foot wide sliding door was the correct width for the boards used to hold the grain in. For other lading, the plug door made a wider 12' 3 1/4" opening, which was more convenient for driving a fork lift in and out.

Great Northern drover's coach X-757, ex. Great Northern 568 1926, exx. Great Northern second-class coach 3225, exxx. Great Northern 145 1900, nee St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba first-class vestibule coach 26 built by Barney & Smith in 1893.

In 1889, the StPM&M, owned by James J. Hill, was leased to a new company Hill had formed, the Great Northern Railway Company. Hill had a habit of creating new companies to build new railroad lines, then folding them into the parent company. By the turn of the century, the StPM&M was folded into the GN, and coach 26 was renumbered GN 145 on February 3rd, 1900. Upon the creation of the "Oriental Limited", the new top train to the Pacific Northwest, 145 was demoted and became second-class coach 3225. A center partition was added, dividing the coach section in half. This probably happened circa 1905.

In 1914, the GN’s Jackson Street Shops in St. Paul standardized the 3225's safety appliances to meet current Federal regulations. Electric lights were added in July 1926. On August 30th, 1926, 3225 was renumbered 568 and demoted to branch line use. On April 26, 1930, 568 was demoted again, becoming drover's coach X-757. A drover's coach is for ranchers accompanying their cattle to market. Most of the coach seats were removed and replaced by bunks for sleeping. X-757 had four bunks on one side, starting from the women's (larger) restroom and five bunks on the other. Eight coach seats remained at the far end for daytime use. If not done so already, the varnished oak interior was repainted at this time.

In 1961, X-757 was retired and sat awaiting disposition in Montana. Jack Hoover, a local railfan, purchased it from the GN in November of that year and moved it to his property. There it was well taken care of. It appears Jack removed the bunks and paint and re-varnished the interior woodwork. The exterior he covered with tin sheeting and roll-roofing to prevent water damage. In 2001, Jack Hoover donated X-757 to MTM and it was trucked to St. Paul and unloaded at Shaw Lumber, which is on the same spur as the Jackson Street Roundhouse. As an indication of its condition, after 40 years sitting idle the air brakes still functioned!

Northern Pacific wooden caboose 1631 built in by the railroad in 1918.

Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern heavyweight business car "Gopher" built by Barney and Smith in the 1890's. It was the private car of a lumber company's general manager, first in Michigan and later near Duluth. In 1925, it went to MN&S co-owner Win Stephens, who stretched it like a limo for entertaining Detroit automobile executives.

Marks stamped on the outsides of doors and windows further reveal it was built the Gran Maris. This is probably a mis-spelling, since on one side it is the Grand Marais. It is difficult to read, but 2352 (the builder's number?) also appears to be stamped in doors and windows. Exactly when and for whom it was built is a mystery – the records of Barney & Smith were lost in a flood in the 1920's. We believe it was built before 1892 for the Manistique Railway, a Michigan logging railroad owned by the Alger-Smith Lumber Company, since we have seen a small-town newspaper article from that year which mentioned the Grand Marais coming to town. That its name was spelled Grand Marais is fairly certain, since the Manistique was head-quartered in Grand Marais, Michigan.

Its history in this century is better known. By 1912 the lumber in Michigan had all but disappeared and the Manistique was dismantled to build the Duluth & Northern Minnesota, located north of Duluth along the north shore of Lake Superior. On the D&NM, it was the private car of general manager John Millen.

The Grand Marais was a sixty foot long wooden car. The floor plan is based on differences in the woodwork inside the car, more modern bunks in two rooms and traces of exterior paint visible from above the head-end vestibule. The interior was Oak and Mahogany, with clerestory windows and a light green ceiling. The wood had inlay borders and the ceiling was trimmed with gold.

In 1924, the Grand Marais was refurbished for an equipment dealer by the Minneapolis & St. Louis' Cedar Lake shops in Minneapolis. Then in 1925, Mr. Win Stephens of Minneapolis purchased it for his private use. Mr. Stephens owned what was then the only Buick dealership in Minnesota and had dreams of gaining an exclusive right to sell Buick automobiles in the upper midwest. To that end, he and partner Harry Pence purchased the Minneapolis, Northfield, & Southern as the first part of an all-rail link to Detroit. Harry Pence followed suit by also purchasing a private car (the Pheasant). During the winter of 1926-27, Mr. Stephens had his car completely rebuilt by the Great Northern's Jackson Street shops. They cut it in half, added a second state room, a crew room and about seventeen extra feet in length, put it on a Commonwealth steel underframe kit, enclosed the head-end vestibule, wired it for electric lighting and finished it in steel siding. The main change in interior decor was painting the ceiling brown. Curiously, they kept the original composite four-wheel trucks. Mr Stephens had already re-named it, for the name Gopher appears in pencil on the new woodwork.

In its new role, the Gopher made several trips to Detroit to pick up brand new automobiles. Mr. Stephens had flat cars equipped to handle them and the entire train would make the trip, the Gopher bringing up the markers. It was also took Detroit dignitaries on several excursions. In his effort to win an exclusive dealership, Mr. Stephens invited Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors on several duck-hunting excursions on Northern Pacific branch lines.

From its retirement in the 1950's until the Soo Line's acquisition of the MN&S in 1983, the Gopher sat at Leech Lake, Minnesota as a lake cabin. Although on trucks, its underside was stripped of mechanical equipment and it was connected to the local utilities. The kitchen was remodelled with then-modern appliances. A hot water/car heat unit in a closet jutting into the kitchen was removed and replaced by heaters in each end. The ceiling and master bedroom were painted white.

In 1984 the Minnesota Transportation Museum acquired the Gopher for $2,500. Because MTM was renting space at the time and the car had to be stored outside, vandals were able to kick in a door and almost succeeded in setting the car on fire. After that its valuable brass fixtures were removed for safe-keeping.

A wooden train from the Children's Muesum at Bandana Square.

Track equipment.

Great Northern bulk mail car 480, ex. Pullman tourist sleeper 2549, nee Pullman 12-1 sleeper "Tasmania" in 1917.

In March 1943, Pullman rebuilt it into tourist sleeper 2549. In February 1948, needing to replace well-worn old wooden baggage cars, the Great Northern purchased fifteen tourist sleeper cars from Pullman and 2549 was rebuilt into baggage car 480 at the St. Cloud shops. Starting in 1954, the Great Northern began combining the Fast Mail and Western Star between Spokane and Seattle. This created trains over twenty cars long, with so many mail cars that if they were all handled at the head end, the passengers would have to get off on the ballast and walk to the depot platform. Thus, the non-working mail cars were placed at the rear, followed by an empty coach for the rear flagman. The extra coach was judged inefficient, so sometime between 1954 and 1956, a rear office was added to cars 475-486. The flagman's accomodations included a coach seat and table, clothes locker, restroom, water cooler, and a Caban coal (later oil) stove. A portable red oscillating Mars light was bolted to the rear door, right in the center, creating a distinctive spotting feature.

With the cessation of Burlington Northern passenger service on April 30, 1971, the rider-storage mail cars were stored. For most of the seventies, they saw use in work train service. Most were scrapped in the eighties, although four of them went to museums. MTM's 480 was actually the first to leave the roster, being donated in February 1979.

Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Pacific 52 seat coach 502 built by the railroad in 1948 for the Twin Cities, Midwest and Chippewa Hiawathas. The exterior featured smooth sides (a departure from pre-war rib-sided Milwaukee practice,) the round windows typical of the Milwaukee and welded-on grab irons. The body was orange with red bands along the windows and the letterboard. The roof was grey and the undercarriage black. By the vestibule door was a spiffy three-dimensional aluminium "Hiawatha" logo. The lettering was gold leaf with black trim. 502's inside was predominately blond woodwork, with polished aluminium "Hiawatha" logos on either side of the doors at the ends of the passenger compartment.

Burlington Northern flat car 959439, nee Northern Pacific 61248 built by Bethlehem Steel in 1937. It was acquired by MTM in 1985 and operates with 150 ton crane Great Northern X1735.

Burlington Northern 150 ton derrick D158, ex. Great Northern X1735, nee Great Northern 96014 built by Industrial Locomotive Works in 1914. Also known as a "Big Hook" or just "Wrecking Crane", it was designed for putting cars and locomotives back on the track after a wreck. Derricks typically come in 100 to 250-ton capacities, so X1735 is a medium-sized example.

It was originally steam-powered, with its own boiler. Later in life it was converted to diesel power. As of 1970. X1735 was stationed in Superior, Wisconsin. At the merger, it was one of three 150-ton derricks on the roster. It was retired in the mid-1980's and conveyed to the MTM on 10/27/1985, along with boom car Burlington Northern 959439. MTM stored it for many years in the Twin Cities Army Amunition Plant for lack of track space elsewhere. In September 2006, it became the last piece of MTM rolling stock to leave TCAAP when it was house-moved to Jackson Street for display.

Northern Pacific snow plough 30 built by Russell Snow Plough in 1930.

The tender of Northern Pacific 328.

Northern Pacific 4-6-2 2153 built by Baldwin in 1909 to pull the Northern Pacific's premier passenger train, the North Coast Limited. Retired in the 1950's when the railroad switched to diesel locomotives, 2153 was donated to the City of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, who displayed it in a city park. In 2000, the City gave 2153 to the Minnesota Transportation Museum.

Chicago Burlington & Quincy Doodlebug 9735, nee Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 735 built by Electro-Motive Division and Pullman in 1929. During most of the 1950's and 1960's, it spent in Illinois towns such as Galesburg, Bushnell and Macomb. Although many passenger motor cars had passenger seating, 9735 never did - its interior was entirely devoted to a 30 foot baggage section, 15 foot mail apartment and a 15 foot power/control section.

Number 9735 was retired in 1967, the last operating CB&Q PMC, and was sold to Southern Industrial in June 1969 then was acquired by the Minnesota Transportation Museum in 1984.

Great Northern lounge car 1084 "Twin Ports", nee Pullman 1 drawing room-28 chair parlour pool car "Natalie built in 1924. Her interior steel was painted in simulated wood-grained red mahogany and was a classic "heavyweight" car, riveted together from mild steel, with a deep center sill and painted Pullman green. Pullman retired her from active duty in April 1938.

In June 1942, she and sister "Cordelia" were purchased by the Great Northern and converted to coaches 1084 and 1083. In 1945, they were converted back to parlor cars. Then in April 1952, they were completely rebuilt for the streamlined "Gopher" and "Badger" trains. They became streamlined, flat-ended buffet-parlor observation cars with a rounded roof end, sealed double-pane windows, Mars light, end windows, streamlined marker lights on the sides and a long, horizontal antenna. The car name, ‘Twin Ports’ on the 1084 and ‘Twin Cities’ on the 1083, was centered in the green band below the windows and the number placed in the same band at each end. On the observation end, a GN logo appeared under each window, with "BADGER" below the left and "GOPHER" below the right.

Inside, the cars had 26 easy chairs in the parlor, which was separated from the cafe and buffet by glass panels with frosted artwork of a gopher and a badger. The buffet area had two tables to seat four and one to seat two, and a small kitchen. At the vestibule end were men's and women's toilets. In February, 1959 they were modified for mid-train operation by squaring off the observation-end roof, replacing the Mars light with a red Gyralight and adding a diaphragm. The end lettering was removed. After retirement in 1969, 1083 was converted to a track inspection car in 1973 and 1084 was canibalized for the Burlington Northern business car fleet. 1084 was apparently never assigned a Burlington Northern passenger car number after the merger.

Northern Pacific 2-6-0 328, nee Chicago Southern 328, built by American Locomotive Company in 1907. When the Chicago Southern Railroad was incorporated to build 114 miles of track from Chicago to a connection with the Southern Indiana Railway, forty locomotives were ordered in 1905 from the American Locomotive Company’s Rogers works in Patterson, New Jersey. The first sixteen were delivered in July and August, among them six 4-6-0’s. By the end of 1905, the Chicago Southern fell on hard times and the remaining fourteen 4-6-0's sat unfinished at Rogers, without a buyer.

During the winter of 1906-1907, the Northern Pacific was experiencing power shortages on its Washington, Montana, Idaho and Dakota branch lines. It purchased ten of the unfinished engines for $14,500 each. They were completed and delivered in February 1907. The Northern Pacific assigned them class S-10 and numbers 320 to 329. In the early years, 328 was assigned to the Minnesota Division. While most of them were scrapped, 328, along with 321, remained because of their light weight and a rickety old bridge. The Northern Pacific's mainline from the Twin Cities to Duluth sported a number of branchlines. The seventeen mile branch from Rush City, Minnesota to Grantsburg, Wisconsin crossed the St. Croix River on a very light bridge. Only D-3 engines or S-10 engines like 328 were light enough to cross it safely. 321 and 328 also frequented the branches from Wyoming to Taylors Falls and from White Bear Lake to Stillwater. By 1946, dwindling traffic and the new diesels resulted in 321’s scrapping. On July 1st, 1948, 328 pulled the last train to Taylors Falls and 328 still found work on the Stillwater branch and pulling railfan excursions, but in March 1950, was retired.

328 was ordered scrapped, but was saved by the Minnesota Railfan's Association, who managed to get it donated to the city of Stillwater. It was put on display in the park along the river, a couple blocks from the depot. In 1976, the Minnesota Transportation Museum leased the 328 and restored it to operating condition in the Burlington Northern's former Northern Pacific Como Shops in St. Paul. It pulled its first excursion train in 1981 during New Brighton's Stockyard Days festivities. Between about 1987 and 1991, Northern Pacific 328 returned to the Stillwater branch, which was was owned by MTM and 328 was a "crown jewel" of the historic experience.

From 1992 to 1999, Northern Pacific 328 served as a regular locomotive on MTM's Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway, giving train rides to an older generation who remembered when steam locomotives ruled the rails and exposing a new generation to steam locomotives and passenger trains for the first time. It ran between Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota and Dresser, Wisconsin, a mere few miles from the Stillwater and Taylors Falls branches it once frequented. It also made occasional special trips to other locations around the Twin Cities.

Lake Superior Terminal Transfer NW2 101 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1948. The Lake Superior Terminal & Transfer Railroad, full corporate name, the Lake Superior Terminal & Transfer Railway of the State of Wisconsin operated about two dozen miles of trackage entirely within the City of Superior from the 1880's to the 1980's. It never went to Duluth. Through most of its existence and into "modern" post-war times, it performed three principal functions.

Firstly, it performed terminal and switching services for its four owners in Superior: the Great Northern, Nothern Pacific, Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha, and Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic. Much of this involved transferring cars to and from the non-owning railroads in the area, Soo, DWP and Milwaukee Road. Secondly, it operated as a joint-facility for its owning railroads to serve and switch many of the customers along Superior's waterfront. These were principally grain elevators (including Farmer's Union, claimed to be the world's tallest elevator) along the Tower Bay line; and coal and other bulk docks in the area where the Ortran Coal Terminal now is and in Superior's North End. In recent years, LST&T also had the honor of switching the car ferry dock, loading and unloading the Incan Superior from Thunder Bay. Thirdly, it wned and operated the Union Depot in Superior which was used by GN and NP passenger trains and later Amtrak. The company offices were here also.

Great Northern heater car 16, ex. Great Northern heater car 10, exx. Great Northern F7B 458B 1952, nee Great Northern F3 306B built by Electro-Motive Division in 1948. Intended for freight, it had no steam heat capabilities.

Change came in 1965-1967, when the Great Northern began replacing their aging E and F passenger locomotives. Six boiler-equipped SDP40's and eight SDP45's were purchased which could replace several older locomotives. Pleased by the economics, the Great Northern selected nine F3B's and one F9B to be rebuilt as heater cars, to provide steam heat when regular freight locomotives were called upon to pull passenger trains. As a result, Passenger F3B 354B became heater car 10 in 1965. In 1972, newly-formed Amtrak selected heater cars 10 to 15 for its use, while heater cars 16 to 19 were retained by the Burlington Northern. The 16 was acquired by MTM in 1982 and still wears its Burlington Northern paint.

Great Northern coach/diner 1146 built by American Car and Foundry in 1950 and was ordered as part of the complete upgrading of the heavyweight Seattle to Vancouver ‘Puget Sounder’. This was a four-hour service operated two times a day, each way. Two complete sets of new lightweight, streamlined equipment were first ordered in 1946 and greatly anticipated. It was not delivered until June 1950, however, because the car builders were extremely busy with a post-war business boom. To match the all-new equipment, the service was also given a new name; the ‘International’, and upgraded to three trips a day.

In Seattle, connections were made with all the GN's east-west long-distance trains, the north-south "Coast Pool Train" and other railroad’s trains. In Vancouver, it connected with Canadian railroad's services. American and Canadian customs agents rode the train to speed passenger's passage across the border and the food service could make change in either country's currency. Breakfast was served on the morning train, lunch on the noon train and dinner on the evening train.

Coach-diner 1146 was in the consist of the International for twelve years but declining passenger traffic prompted a re-shuffling and in 1962, it and the other coach-diners were moved back to St. Paul to serve on the "Red River" to Fargo. They then moved to the St. Paul–Fargo "Dakotan" in 1968 in a further re-shuffling. When the "Dakotan" was cancelled, the cars sat idle in St. Paul coach yards. Amtrak purchased them in 1971, renumbered them 8400 and 8401 and used them until the great cut-backs of 1979.

In 1971, Amtrak bought 1146 and re-numbered it 8401. The exterior was painted in Amtrak's then-standard platinum mist (silver) with the window band half red and half blue and the "pointless arrow" logo at each end of the window band. Their interior decor was changed to blue carpet on the floor and walls, solid-blue wallpaper on the end walls, purple-ish upholstery, and off-white paint everywhere else. The GN-custom artwork thrown away. Mechanically, Amtrak changed the range from propane to charcole, and changed the kitchen exhaust vents, but little else. They were probably retired by Amtrak around 1979, when old steam-heated equipment was either being upgraded or replaced.

Amtrak used 1146 for parts, then sold it to a Midwestern museum, who stored it in the New Orleans area for about fifteen years. While at one point they had sandblasted and primed the exterior, by the late 1990's, it no longer fit their plans. Collector Bob Moen purchased it and moved it to Hooper, Nebraska. While it was there he installed wheel sets with more life left, replaced window gaskets, renumbered it PPCX 1146 and painted it. Bob moved it to Randolph, Minnesota then in 2001, sold it to its current owner, Eric Hopp.

Just like the private car "Overland Trail", coach-diner 1146 has two different paint schemes. The kitchen side is in "Empire Builder" colors and the opposite side is in "Big Sky Blue.

Soo Line caboose 31 built by International Car Company in 1966. This was a steel caboose which replaced a fleet of wooden cabooses which dated back as far as the 1880's. Canadian Pacific Railway donated the caboose to the museum in 2001.

Burlington Northern box car 198604, nee Great Northern 3533 built by the railroad in 1956.

St. Louis-San Francisco box car 27998 built by Pullman-Standard in 1952.

Union Refrigerator Transit 40 foot refrigerator car 37343 built by General American in 1948 and leased to the Milwaukee Road.

St. Louis-San Francisco box car 19434 built by Pullman-Standard in 1957 and acquired by the museum in 1987.

St. Louis-San Francisco box car 19424 built by Pullman-Standard in 1957 and acquired by the museum in 1987.

Soo Line outside-braced box car 134216 represents the great fleet of grain-hauling boxcars that were once very commonplace in the upper midwest. Vast harvests in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Manitoba were hauled from grain elevator to flour mill by Soo Line boxcars in the days before modern covered hoppers. When the grain was loaded, wooden boards were placed across the door opening to hold the grain in, because it was loose, not bagged. To unload, men used wooden plows pulled by ropes from outside to scrape all the grain out. Marks inside the car indicated how much grain could be loaded, depending upon the density of the different grains.

Privately-owned Burlington Northern Steel caboose 10280, nee Northern Pacific 10119, builder and year unknown.

Burlington Northern wooden caboose 11243 1970, nee Great Northern X-240 built by the railroad in 1943. It was later donated to the City of Buxton, North Dakota then donated to the Great Northern Railway Historical Society in 2001.

Northern Pacific heavyweight coach 1370, nee Northern Pacific 1203 built by Pullman in 1915.

A tarpaulin-covered coach of unknown idenitity.

Great Northern box car 138407 built by Pacific Car and Foundry in 1967 and delivered in Big Sky Blue, which was the Great Northern's last paint scheme before the Burlington Northern merger. It was introduced in the spring of 1967 by a secretly-painted train of business cars and was to be applied to all rolling stock. However, not everything was repainted by the 1970 merger date. It is said the same design firm in St. Paul designed both the GN "Big Sky Blue" and BN "Cascade Green" paint schemes.

After the Great Northern merged into the Burlington Northern, the cars were repainted in the BN's "Cascade Green" colors and re-numbered from 138xxx to 236xxx. The BN itself merged into the BNSF in the 1990's but the cars were not re-numbered or re-painted for BNSF. In 2004, BNSF offered MTM four of these boxcars. They had been retired early due to bad-order doors, declining need for general-purpose boxcars and proximity to mandatory retirement age. One made it to the scrapper too quickly, so the remaining three "identical triplets" 236407 (GN 138407), 236660, and 375845 arrived in June 2004. When they arrived they showed their 37 years of service. Museum shop forces first straightened the bent door hardware so the doors worked again. The previous road numbers were readily determined – BN had painted them on the center sills.

Burlington Northern boxcar 199625, nee Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 41236 built by the railroad in November 1959. It was acquired in 1987 and in June 2005, repainted back into Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Chinese red.

General Electric Rail Servies SW1 14, ex. Davenport, Rock Island and Northwestern 84, nee Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 9139 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1939.

Soo Line maintenance-of-way bunk car W683, builder and year unknown.

Soo Line 12-1 sleeper 1227 "Valhalla" built by Barney & Smith in 1907. It had recently been sold to the Colfax Railroad Museum.

ARMCO Steel Company steel cab switcher B-71 built by Baldwin-Westinghouse in 1930. It was used at their Butler, Pennsylvania steel mill then went to Michigan Railway Historical Society and later to the Cadillac & Lake City Railroad. It last operated in 1973 and was moved to St. Paul around 1985.

Soo Line box car 43960 built by Pullman-Standard in 1940 and acquired in 1988. This is one of the few pre-World War II boxcars in our collection and has friction bearings.

Burlington Northern 40 foot boxcar 199491, nee Great Northern 2052 built by the railroad in 1952.

The museum's collection also includes buses. Next Dan took me to the restoration area of the roundhouse.

Burlington Northern caboose 11445, nee Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 13500 built by the railroad in 1930. In 2000, Bandana Square in St. Paul, (formerly the Northern Pacific's Como Shops,) donated it to the Minnesota Transportation Museum. It had been on display there for close to 20 years and the roof was starting to leak, but it was still in decent shape. MTM trucked it to Jackson Street and parked it on old, nearly-buried trackage that was not yet connected.

In 2003, after the completion of the turntable connected its track, 13500 was moved into roundhouse stall 14, part of a wood-shop area being developed. During its short time parked outside at Jackson Street, its roof had rapidly deteriorated and needed replacement to avoid further damage. Because it is well-suited for the Jackson Street caboose rides (lots of windows and seats) it became the first wood-shop restoration project. Restoration started with replacement of rotten roof boards and canvas. The restoration leader determined that 13500 was most likely the CB&Q's first steel caboose. It is the lowest numbered NE-10, which is the first series of CB&Q steel cabooses.

Here is Jim Swanson who is restoring it.

Milwaukee Road steel bay window caboose 992040 built by the railroad in 1949 and was acquired from the Dakota County fairgrounds in Farmington as part of a trade.

St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manibota combine 506, nee St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba coach 8 built by Barney and Smith in 1879 and rebuilt into a combine.

Northern Pacific Q-3 4-6-2 2156 built by Baldwin in 1909. While the Pacifics generally served the east end of the system, running west from St. Paul and Duluth, 2156 is known to have been assigned to the Northern Pacific's premier passenger train, the North Coast Limited, between Livingston and Butte in Montana. By the 1930s, the Q-3s had been bumped from the main lines by newer, larger engines but continued to lead long, productive lives on branch lines. The last left the roster in 1959.

Of the seven classes of 4-6-2's on the NP, only members of class Q-3 escaped the scrapper's torch. The NP was very generous, donating a total of four to towns along the line. 2156 went to St. Paul and was displayed in Como Park until 1980, when MTM began its restoration. In 1980 the Minnesota Transportation Museum leased 2156 for restoration and operation. Lagging was removed from the boiler, flues removed and siderods and pistons disassembled for renovation before major damage was discovered. While on display, water had seeped into the fireman's side high-pressure steam passage, frozen, and cracked about a square foot out of the side of the steam passage. Since this is an inner part of the complicated cylinder casting, repair would not be cheap. The restoration effort stalled and 2156 sat partially stripped for many years. The lease eventually came up for renewal and St. Paul opted to sell 2156 to the musuem.

Northern Pacific SW1200 105, nee Lake Superior Terminal and Transfer built by Electro-Motive Division in 1957.

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy streamlined "Day-Nite" 56-seat coach 598 built by Pullman in 1946 for the Northern Pacific's premier Chicago-Twin Cities-Seattle North Coast Limited. The cars featured leg-rests and reclining seats. In 1953, the Northern Pacific launched a "Passenger Car Exterior Colors Redesign Project", with industrial designer Raymond Loewy selected as designer. The resulting "Loewy Colors" of olive-green below the windows, a white pin stripe and Pullman-green everywhere above were applied to the entire streamlined fleet. With "Northern Pacific" in white in the letterboard and the NP's Korean-flag inspired "monad" logo centered below the windows, the look was striking.

Besides the North Coast Limited, the twelve Day-Nite coaches were used on the Mainstreeter, a new train inheriting the old North Coast Limited schedule, when that train was speeded up – and on the Coast Pool Train, the Union Pacific/Great Northern/Northern Pacific co-operative Portland-Seattle service.

This coach was retired in 1971 with the coming of Amtrak. It sat for a while in the old Omaha Road car shops in Hudson, Wisconsin until aquired by MTM in 1985. Since then it has been in storage, first in a secured military facility, and since 1999 at Jackson Street.

Minnesota Transportation Museum SW1 3110, ex. Andersen Window 3110, nee Wabash 110 built by Electro-Motive Division in 1949.

Minnesota Transportation Museum 45 ton switcher 10106, nee United States Navy 7251 built by General Electric in 1942.

The tender of Northern Pacific 4-6-2 2156.

Another tender.

Minnesota Transportation Museum tank car 412, nee General American Tank Car 1891 built in 1959. The museum acquired it in the 1970's and has outfitted it as an auxiliary tender for Northern Pacific 328.

Minnesota Transportation Museum sleeper W30, ex. Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range W30, nee Duluth and Iron Range coach 30 built by Pullman in 1918.

Burlington Northern F7A 668, nee Great Northern F7A 454A built by Electro-Motive Division in 1950. It was the first unit of a matched A-B-B-A set (454A, 454B, 454C, 454D) built for freight service. It was completely overhauled at Burlington Northern's Dale Street shops in St. Paul in January 1976, at which time it received the BN Cascade Green paint scheme and snowplow pilot. Prior to rebuilding, this locomotive 668 had been the last F-unit in the original Great Northern paint scheme.

The Dale Street shops were closed in June 1976 and Burlington Northern 668 was retired in March 1981.

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific combine X405, nee Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific 2756 built by the railroad in 1938.

St. Louis-San Francisxo box car 19424 built by Pullman-Standard in 1957.

Burlington Northern box car 375845, nee Great Northern 138687 built by Pacific Car and Foundry in 1967.

Minnesota Northfield & Southern flat car 900711 built in 1966.

Greyound Scenicruiser 822 in front of the museum. After a fantastic visit, I drove north to the Ironhorse Railroad Park in Chisago City, Minnesota.

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