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I live in the North End of St. Paul, and my house was built in 1879, presumably, for railroad workers. It's a little 2 BR single story house that would have housed one of those guys in the photograph! I love to think about all of the history in my own house!! Thanks for this vid!

Lived on Rice st and sycamore St,1 block from GN shops,every week we would hang out here for hours,passenger car yard at Jackson st...r.r.police shotguns w/rock salt... caboose w/ torpedoes,flares,best of times railfan 75 yrs,from 1954-2023,(1955 huge fire at the shops,fire trucks on the mainline,5 alarms

As always, thanks another top quality historical video!

I found a couple of things interesting in Mr. O'Brien's obituary: 1) They stated that he was 'one of St. Paul's oldest citizens.' But he would have been only 61 or 62 at the time of his death. 2) I kind of like how the obit stated, 'The deceased had been ailing since December and his death was not unexpected.' Most obits today, it seems, are vague or give no information at all about circumstances surrounding the person's death. I also found it eye-opening as to how the costs of buildings and equipment must have far outpaced inflation over time ($44,000 loss from roundhouse fire in 1881 that adjusts to $1.4 million today). I would imagine that loss today would be many times the $1.4 million inflation adjusted number. Thank you for the very interesting video!!

Great video with all these photos and maps! Thanks for putting this together.

Those stone buildings are very beautiful

Have you considered overlaying the historic map over the modern view aerial/satellite view?

Did you see what the date was on the rails?

Good video. A lot to see in the round house. Worth a visit

Were you unable to gain access to the roundhouse? The museum could certainly use the notoriety and exposure. I've heard they are struggling with costs and attendance.

Narrorator puts emphasis on " It was made of WOOD!" ME - " OPE, know where this is going"

Hennepin , Nicollet and Marquette were Jesuit priests. It’s my home town. It’s been destroyed, biggest damage by Obongo and now Harris. Wake up.

It didn’t click to me where the junction was until the first satellite view. I’ve followed this section on Google Earth many times always curious about the history of the line and what it was like

My wife and I went through Brainerd and I am amazed by that Northern Pacific Railyard there. It's the best I have seen next to the BNSF Railyard in Northeast Minneapolis.

Was just in Fergus Falls today with my brother. His father was a paitent of the Fergus Falls Asylum .

Interesting video and historical informations. Greetings from Poland.

Great post👍👍grew up rice st & sycamore...1949... Remember coppers coke co.1/2 mile se of como shops...on a cold day we would hear the steam switcher whistle from coppers coke,1958 last time i heard that 🚂

My father worked therfore years. The locomotive that you showed was the first locomotive my father worked on after he was hired at NP in 1955 grew up 3 blocks east loved that shop go with him to pick up his pay check the guys that worked there were always friendly and bought me candy from vending machines. I have photos of my father and his brothers and there sons that worked there. He worked at Mississippi Street shops and the round house retired from north town diesel shops 42 years injury free service I miss that man

Great video. Just a idea , history of I think the name is kooper coke plant just that was just south of bandana square along energy park drive?

Well done, as usual. Your patience in digging up all these interesting details commendable. Thanks!

Thank you for your well-researched documentary on the old NP Como Shops -- yet another from your excellent RR series I've seen. In the early 1980s, and as volunteer for PBS, myself and several other volunteers helped restore two wooden RR cabooses for auction -- one from the Soo Line, in original red with yellow painted ends, the other from BN in traditional BN colors - this latter believed to have been of either GN or NP heritage (I think the latter). Both had been donated to PBS to raise funds for their local (CH 2) programing and were being stored in the old MN Transfer roundhouse in St. Paul, in the midway district, for us to work on. Because some parts of the BN caboose were missing, and since PBS thought the highest bidder would likely pay more if caboose (on its trucks) fully restored, BN allowed us to harvest whatever parts we needed from the old NP Como shops depicted here. At the time these buildings were still in use by the BN for caboose repair, as several were inside being refurbished, including many in their original NP colors or other pre-merger schemes. If only I'd thought to bring my camera, for the caboose era in railroading was soon coming to an end and not to be repeated.

I enjoy the format of arrow-on-map followed by vid or pic. Thanks!

Beautiful buildings…I am often there…nice maps and history in the massive public hallways…however, our ancestors would be disappointed to know that there are no U.S. flags that I can recall…a number of Pride flags at the entrance and on the doorways…times change, I guess….allegiances change…I just go along to get along….it’s the best policy…

Did you have a chance to see the “high tressle” bridge just north of Valley City, North Dakota?

Well done! I remember what it was like as a shopping mall in the 80s, with restaurants, clubs, stores, offices, and even a giant model railroad display. Very cool. The Dakota Club was a hold out as office space replaced stores, until it moved to downtown Mpls, where it is today. Similar vibe as St. Anthony Main in late 80’s.

I spoke about and recommended your channel at a Pioneer festival this weekend. Another outstanding video.

Nice! I worked at Bandana Square when it was a newly renovated shopping mall in the mid 80's...super cool old building..

Fantastic architecture. Glad that some of it was saved. Thanks for presenting it.

Great vid!

Another well done video. In March of 2002 I spent three weeks in the Atrium building taking Real Estate classes at Prosourse (now Kaplan).

Thanks!

Are you planning to do the Jackson Street Roundhouse?

Always a good day when you post, thank you!

My daughter loved this!

Cool!

They used to hold a haunted house here around Halloween. Unfortunately, the state of disrepair and black mold have made this place too dangerous to enter according to the city council. A number of Hollywood productions wanted to film here but were denied by the city council. Imagine a season of American horror story set here!

I hope they can use the old bridge for Rails to Trails. I know they are expensive to maintain but don't need to bear heavy weight anymore.

The "maintain speed" is BS as they have to slow for the sharp S curve on the Bismarck side and the yards on the Mandan side.

I'm not a bit surprised considering who owns BNSF.

Your videos are top notch. You should work for PBS or something like that. Thank you.

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Epic vid I hope it gets a million views

That trestle is impressive! Sad it’s going to be taken down and not left up for historical reason.

Well, I guess we could call this episode “North Dakota“ bricks. 🙃

A shame they lost the fight to keep this old beauty standing!

This may be the most historic railroad bridge in the United States. Citizens of Bismarck (on the east side of the river and bridge) and Mandan (west side) have strongly lobbied BNSF to donate the old bridge so that the communities can build a bike and recreation path between the two towns. Without any good reason offered, BNSF has denied this request, opting to tear down the old bridge once the new bridge is completed. That's quite a slap in the face of North Dakotans, delivered by a large corporation that has greatly profited from businesses within the state.

Looking at the amount of activity at the construction site, it will take them 100 years just to build the bridge.

Good video

Hi I have a pic of the train wreck that destroyed the trestle just north of Louisville swamp. I happened to stumble upon it hiking almost 20 years ago. Boxcars and timbers in the river. You could incorporate it into this video. I just don't know how to email it to you

What a darn shame that that barn is eroding away. thanks for sharing