Ah, springtime in Minnesota. That time of year when the temperature begins to rise and the snow starts to melt. Followed by gentle spring showers, May flowers, etc.

Unfortunately this year it happened pretty much all at once. Most of the winter was snow free. Not much of anything on the ground until the end of January. Then from the end of January thru mid March it snowed weekly. Average snow fall for the Twin Cities is around 54″. This year we ended up around 70″, almost all of it in that month and a half span.

Then when it did start to warm up and melt we got a major rain storm which dropped about 6″ of rain on top of the melting snow. After everything was melted, we then got an additional 10″ of snow in mid April.

So what does this all look like? Well, my wife and I took an over night to our favorite small town. I’ve talked about Red Wing before. Great place to get away from it all, my daughters wedding, etc. Looking out of the hotel, which overlooks the Mississippi river, I was amazed.

First a picture of the grain complex I took in the fall during my rail fanning during my daughters wedding.

Now that same area with the spring flooding.

As you can see the river is up quite a bit. The parking area where the  SUV is in the top pick, is completely underwater. The posts and the ramp you see about mid photo is where they tie up barges for loading. The ramp is to gain access to said barges. Again, the walkway in this area is underwater.

How does this affect local railroads? About 25 miles north of Red Wing is Hastings, MN. The Canadian Pacific is watching the river in this area because it could crest (reach it highest flood point) and cover its tracks in the Hastings area. Effectively shutting down all south bound traffic out of St. Paul. Hastings is about 21 miles south St. Paul.

The Union Pacific’s South St. Paul Yard is also having troubles. Normally there are 3 lines coming into the yard. Two of those are currently walled off to prevent the yard from flooding. The only open line into and out of the yard is across the Hoffman bridge. It is an old swing bridge across the Mississippi. In order to keep up, the Union Pacific has said that they have increased train length from 5000’/6000′ to 10,000′. And they are watching the river because it could crest at a point where they would have to wall off this track also to save the yard.

Anyways, back to Red Wing. Another thing I noticed was the staging of sandbags around the riverfront.

As you can see in the photo, they have pallets of sandbags ready to go by the depot.

And on the lighter side…

The city had a squad car parked by the closed road. Yes, the river has risen over the road. And yes, it was necessary to have an officer here. I saw him wave down several cars and have them turn around. Not sure where they thought they were going.

As I write this (4/24/19), the river has crested and the CP and the UP did not have to divert anymore traffic. If you were worried about the BNSF, their yard is on the north side of the cities well above any flooding. Although the do have some trackage rights over the CP’s tracks through Hastings.

Next time, a bit of traveling. Til then, Happy Railroading…

Interstate Junction or as it’s also known as “the Junction” exists because of Duluth’s unique geology. Duluth and her sister city, across St. Louis bay, Superior, Wisconsin are at lake level. And while the land south and east of Superior is relatively flat, Duluth is surrounded on the south and west side by a ridge that rises approximately 600 feet. Below is a map of Duluth and the surrounding area.

The yellow line that I drew in is approximately the top line of the ridge. From there it’s a pretty consistent slope to the lake. This situation worked well for the DM&IR as they didn’t have to figure out how to push a loaded ore train up onto a 80ft high ore dock. Rather they could ease the train downhill and then pull an empty train back up. The DM&IR”s tracks did come through a cut in the ridge at about the same place as Interstate 35. This probably saved them 50ft of drop. Even then they still had a 2.2% grade to the docks.

The Northern Pacific also had a line that climbed Proctor hill from the lake side, but I couldn’t find any information on the percent on the grade or how often they used it. Even the DM&IR’s lake side line came in from Two Harbors, 27 miles to the north.

Which brings us to the Junction. Except for NP’s line up the hill and the DM&IR’s line from the north, all other lines came into Duluth from the east/south through Superior, Wisconsin. These included the CMO (Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha), C&NW (Chicago and Northwestern), The Soo Line, Great Northern, Milwaukee Road and the Northern Pacific. As seen in the photo below, The Northern Pacific, being the first one there was about the only line with a major yard in Duluth. All others are in and around Superior.

So the Continental Northern’s line heading north out New Brighton had to swing east into Wisconsin in order to then swing west back into Duluth. The “Junction” is where double track mainline branches. One branch that heads north and then west, while the other heads east, then north to Superior and Duluth. I have the double track mainline as well as a double ended siding for each mainline track. It then becomes an interchange within the railroad. This section of the layout becomes an industry where cars are dropped off and picked up.

I did it this way because mid Minnesota industry is mainly farming. How many grain elevators and feed mills do you want. It also means that I can run loads that are not necessarily farm related on this section of the road. After all, a little variety is a good thing.

I also realized that in trying to explain all this to you, that I need to come up with a map outlining where the railroad fits into the world. And when I do I will share that with you. Another thing that I would like to share with you is the variety of industries in and around Duluth/Superior. Most people believe that it was all iron ore. But that is for another day.

Till next time, Happy Railroading…

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all!