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Tuesday July 21:
If it's Tuesday, this must be Pig's Eye. Yes sir, four big tours today of Saint
Paul, with lunch thrown in for good measure. Our bus first visits SPUD for the
51¢ tour of the platforms, massive concourse and the headhouse.
Lindsay added two www.pennycollector.com trinkets (51¢) from SPUD to his collection
- first image is the SPUD headhouse, second image is former SPUD tenant, StP&P
#1, the William Crooks.
2nd stop is MTM's Jackson Street Roundhouse, home of the GNRHS Archives and a
wonderful collection of railroad "hardware". Our third destination is the
magnificent James J. Hill House on Summit Avenue -- with James Jerome and Mary
Hill themselves as our host and hostess! Back at the convention hotel, there's
just time to run out for dinner, then the evening tour of St. Paul area model
layouts commences.
Saint Paul Union Depot (SPUD)
   
#1: Hop on the bus, Gus...; #2: Unloading on the platforms at SPUD; #3: A view
of the platform and concourse; #4: Tom and Peggy Arms.
    
#5: Greg Smith leads the charge upstairs to the main concourse; #6: Tyrone
Johnson, Andy Kern and others check out the beautifully-restored main concourse;
#7: A view down the concourse towards the headhouse; #8: Close up of steam
engine and train carved into the building; #9: View of the new trackage
installed for Amtrak's Empire Builder access to SPUD.
   
#10: Transition between the headhouse and concourse; #11: Inside the
headhouse; #12: The public facade of SPUD's headhouse along 4th Street East;
#13: Twin
Cities Metro Light Rail just outside Saint Paul Union Depot.
MTM - Jackson Street Roundhouse
   
#1: Welcome to the Roundhouse!; #2: Bob Kelly shows us a typical AFE from the
archives; #3: GNRHS Archives stalwart Stu Holmquist digitizes yet another train
sheet/track diagram on the king-sized scanner; #4: Doug Complin shows us some
"RPC's" way in the back room.
  
Now let's look at some hardware. #1: Wearing the "Pine Tree" NP scheme is GN
454-A F unit. Plans are to restore this unit and repaint in Great Northern
colors; #2: GN 1084 "Twin Ports" a streamlined buffet-parlor-observation car
that ran between Duluth and the Twin Cities; #3: An extremely cool, operating
wig-wag crossing signal.
  
#4: Eric Hopp and his GN 1146 car (see http://www.erixrailcar.com/ for more
details); #5: Interior of galley/kitchen on 1146; #6: Interior of dining end of
1146 - very oochie triangular tables on the left.
   
#7: Former Lake Superior Terminal switcher #101 with its classic GN paint
scheme; #8: Vermillion Red GN 13397 box car; #9: Former GN X-216 caboose in BN
paint reposes under Jackson Street overpass; A look down the turntable at
Jackson Street Roundhouse.
James J. Hill Mansion
  
#1: Heading up to the mansion; #2 & #3: Gathering in the organ/art gallery room
after lunch.
  
#4: James and Mary Hill greet our tour group in the hallway!; #5: Portrait of
James Jerome; #6: Portrait of Mary Mehegan.
  
#7: Up in the attic; #8: Beautiful stained glass; #9: My tour group in one of
the many rooms.
  
#10: J.J. Hill washed up here; #11: A peek at the Louis Hill mansion next door
(now privately owned and occupied); #12: Cathedral of St. Paul viewed through an
archway of the Hill mansion.
Model Railroad Tours
First stop: O scale layout Twin City Model RR Museum
   
#1: Trains gather at GN's Minneapolis Union Station; #2: Duane Buck and Dan
Mitchell check out a bevy of GN steam locomotives; #3: Lots of GN equipment in
the yard; #4: Little 10-wheeler GN 927, 4-6-0.
  
#5: GN steam powered ore train rolls thru town; #6: E7's lead a GN streamliner;
#7: Crowd watching a GN ore train pass by.
Second stop: GN Willmar Division - Rich Remiarz
  
#1: Saint Cloud depot and wye; #2: Bull session with the boys; #3: GN's Red
River on top, GN ballast train on the bottom.
Third stop: GN Minot Division - John O'Brien
  
#1: Duane Buck fires up his Nikon; #2: big trestle; #3: watching the trains go
by.
 
 
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