By: Erik Hare
There was a time, back in the harsh days of the pioneers, that Saint Paul was tied to the world only by the Mississippi River. Everything came and went by steamboat through the dark days of the Civil War, cutting the city off completely when winter froze their lives solid. But all of this changed when the railroads arrived in 1872. From that day forward, Saint Paul became a railroad town.
At the height of it all, no less than 27 different railroads came into the Union Depot. James J Hill built the second great transcontinental line through the wilds of Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountains, and built it without any government subsidy. The Great Northern Route was his dream, and he was Saint Paul. Rugged yet precise, determined yet measured, the city expanded to reach for the vision of this one man and make it Saint Paul’s very soul. Railroads. As far as the eye could see, the rails dragged the riches of the land out to markets hungry for our bounty.
While railroads built Saint Paul, they also gradually faded here as they did anywhere. But there are those who work to preserve our rich history and keep it alive. For a $5 admission, the Jackson Street Roundhouse is open six days a week to anyone who wants a glimpse of what it used to be. It’s at 193 E Pennsylvania Ave, just North of the Capitol.
The Jackson Street is a fully restored and operating roundhouse full of old trains that a dedicated crew of volunteers is constantly welding and painting and reupholstering to get back into shape. A few are more than a little rough still, but some day they’ll get to them. It’s all part of the Minnesota Transportation Museum (MTM), a non-profit group that keeps the Jackson Street Roundhouse running.
One of the features is a short ride in … well, in whatever they have running today. The Soo Line caboose is a favorite, as shown above. The yard also has many Pullman cars, some of which are used on the dinner train on the Osceola and St. Croix Railroad. There’s a 1913 electric locomotive and a recently donated trainer-simulator that the BNSF didn’t need any more.
Of all the equipment they have both in the shed and scattered through the yard, much if it isn’t in great repair. They could frankly use a bit of help, since restoring something as bit as an antique railroad engine is not an easy thing to do. But for those of us who love seeing piles of old metal, this is heaven. Think about 200 times the iron of your average SUV, and the macho factor is off the charts. Add in the legend and poetry of the spirits who hacked great railroads out of the wilderness, and a trip to the Roundhouse becomes something like a pilgrimage.
It’s definitely a work in progress, but it’s very much worth the trip. I like to check back every once in a while just to see what the volunteers have managed to take apart, put back together, or slap a fresh coat of paint onto. It’s our history, yet it’s very much alive and still the stuff that dreams are made of.
