Index*

1. "A tale of three Bridges - New Jersey".         
2. "A rail journey pt. 2".                         
3. "N.E. Pennsylvania pt. 3".                      
4. "Minot, North Dakota GN-BN-BNSF pt. 4 Post 1".   
4. "Minot, North Dakota GN-BN-BNSF pt. 4 Post 2".   
5. "Great Northern's Class R's compared to SP MC-1's".
6. "Great Northern's Class O's compared to PRR's L-1's".
7. "The Whyte Classification System".
8. "Rewriting history of and for my layout. Small on fact, long on fiction".

*Revised and corrected.

Jackson Street Roundhouse

   The Jackson Street Roundhouse was erected in 1907 at it's present location, as directed by James J. Hill. This structure is located slightly East of Jackson Street, and West of Interstate 35E Exit 108. Access is located on the cross street, at 193 Pennsylvania Ave. E, St. Paul, Minnesota.  As of the date of this writing, The roundhouse is 109 years old.

  It is now the home  of the Minnesota Transportation Museum, and the headquarters of the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, and  home of; Great Northern's first SD-45, #400 "Hustle Muscle". When #400 was delivered in May of 1966, it arrived painted in the simple Empire Builder paint scheme, of Pullman Green & Omaha Orange. Between 1970 until 1986 Under Burlington Northern registry, it was renumbered #6430 and wore the paint scheme of the Burlington Northern Railroad; black, Cascade green & black paint scheme.

   In 1986 #400 was restored to her original colors and donated to the GNRHS (Great Northern Railway Historical Society). #407 also an SD-45 which arrived a few days later, was the First Unit to be painted in the 1970's Big Sky Blue Paint Scheme.

  The Roundhouse is a half circle. Nine of it's 22 stalls, are still useable for rail equipment. Entry for rail equipment is by one of the few remaining working turntables, in the United States which still exist today. There are several pieces of RR equipment waiting for restoration. When it was built, it was the Steam engine maintenance facility. Where they received general service Where they were cleaned, washed, greased & oiled, and prepared for their next assignment. If more work was needed on a unit, that couldn't been done at the roundhouse, it was sent 1.7 miles to the West.

The Dale Street Shops

  The large complex of buildings sat at the Northeast corner of Dale Street and Minnehaha Ave.  The shops here preformed the major heavy repairs on the Great Northern RR equipment, including rebuilds, that couldn't be done at the roundhouse. The date of the photo located here:  http://saintpaulhistorical.com/files/show/793  was taken about 1925, by Charles P. Gibson. The Dale street bridge can just barely be seen beyond the tree, on the right hand side of the photo between the power poles.

  Both the shops & roundhouse were built about the same time. It is however presumed that some of the buildings at this location were built before the roundhouse. By the 1970's & 1980's Burlington Northern had closed the doors on the ageing buildings. The last of the buildings were leveled in 1999.

  In the late 1800's, railroads and related industries employed one of every four wage earners in Saint Paul. To Mr. Hill it made sense to expand and build the shops in Frogtown, a location with a proven work force. Most of the buildings at this location were built of yellow-tan or red brick. At the end of the work day a whistle was sounded, signaling that the workers would be home soon. The St. Paul Port Authority, Great Northern Business Park South, now sits on the 11 acre site.

  There isn't a whole lot of information available on these two locations that I was able to find. If you know something I don't know about them, drop me a line.

Charlie