St. James, Minnesota
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Do you have any railroad information about St. James, Minnesota?If you have any photos or other information relating to St. James,
Minnesota please contribute to this page.
Which depot is M&StL? #1 The depot you are showing for mstl in St. James is not correct. It is a restored Omaha depot from I think Amboy, MN. Anyway on that branch of the Omaha. The caboose is a Grand Trunk Western painted to look C.MSt.P.&O. The site is a park west of town on old highway 60. If you can get in contact with Bill Lenzen in St.James he can give you much info. I can remember crossing the M&StL every day for 4 years on the school bus. Many times we had to wait for a train but all I remember is northwestern RSD 4 and 5's as power. I remember asking my dad (worked on Omaha 50 plus years) why their Alcos had 3 axle trucks and the Northwestern Alco RS 2&3 only had two. His answer was for the light rail and bad track on the (hoot and louie) as he called it. lickness2001@yahoo.com #2 "The Omaha depot is still standing, still in use, and in reasonably good shape in St. James. Freight half used by the MOW crews; old passenger side used by crews as a place for storage. Crews are changed here, so its the crew change room, if that is the official name. Yard facilities in St. James consist of the main plus four or five tracks located to the north of the main. Depot sits on the south side of the main. More often than not, lately, the closest yard track is holding a train, probably waiting for a crew to be fully rested. The M&StL depot was moved to a park about 1 mile west of downtown St. James, a park which is bordered on the north by the Omaha main. Evidence of the Louie's existance in St. James is very sparse; according to older maps, the Louie crossed the Omaha west of downtown, and then paralleled the Omaha into town, heading north and east towards New Ulm. One interesting note: St. James was such a railroad town that the main drag parallels the tracks, and the county courthouse is one block east and one block south of the main intersection in town - goes to show the latter day observer that the emphasis in town was the railroad, not the county business! In most other midwestern county seats, the court house is the center of attention, and often located within the town "square." Not St. James! I lived 12 (track) miles east in Madelia. Excellent pizza joint right next to the tracks! "Reverend" Randy Nicholas, a title I rarely use.... More
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