Minnesota Railroads

A Photographic History, 1940–2012

2012
Author:

Steve Glischinski

A lavishly illustrated history of Minnesota railroads from the romance of steam locomotives and luxurious passenger travel to the prosperous engines of transportation today

This illustrated volume offers an enlightening—and entertaining—look at Minnesota railroads from near the end of the romantic era of steam locomotives and luxury passenger lines to the reemergence of railroads as one of the few profitable transportation industries. Minnesota Railroads gives readers a richly textured picture of railroading’s past and future and its impact on life in Minnesota.

[Minnesota Railroads] will appeal to anyone who appreciates good railroad photography. The reader unfamiliar with the North Star State will quickly discover interesting railroading.

Observation Car

“The Great Northern Railway, in the eventful year of 1941, met every requirement made of it as the Nation hurriedly prepared for war.” So Great Northern’s president spoke of the Minnesota railroad that transported the tanks and airplanes, materiel and troops, that were critical to America’s military success. This illustrated volume offers an enlightening—and irresistibly entertaining—look at Minnesota railroads from that shining moment near the end of the romantic era of steam locomotives and luxury passenger lines to the reemergence of railroads as one of the few profitable transportation industries in our day.

Remarkable photographs, many never before published, take us inside the cab of a monumental steam locomotive, which hauled iron ore from the Mesabi Range, and into the lounge car of the luxurious North Coast Limited streamliner. We visit the huge shops that worked on massive locomotives and go trackside to witness the morning rush hour at the St. Paul Union Depot. From the modest St. Charles depot welcoming the Rochester 400 in 1962 to brand-new locomotives speeding container trains west at Hawley in 2009, Minnesota Railroads combines thrilling close-ups and an edifying long view, fine details and a full history.

Traveling from Winton to Worthington, Noyes to Winona, tracking the transition from steam to diesel and the mergers that created today’s megarailroads, Minnesota Railroads gives readers a richly textured picture of railroading’s past and future and its impact on life in Minnesota.


Steve Glischinski began taking photographs of railroads in 1970, at the age of thirteen. Since then, his photographs of railroads in action have been published in many books and magazines. He is a correspondent for Trains Magazine and organizes railroad photography charter trips and the Railfan Weekend at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. He is the author of several books on railroading and lives in Shoreview, Minnesota.

[Minnesota Railroads] will appeal to anyone who appreciates good railroad photography. The reader unfamiliar with the North Star State will quickly discover interesting railroading.

Observation Car

A fine record of railroading in the North Star State. . . Anyone with an interest in Minnesota railroads will enjoy this comprehensive, well-written edition and its wide-ranging photographic coverage. It’s cleanly and logically laid out and the photo reproduction is first rate.

Railfan & Railroad

Extremely well researched and well written.

Book News, Inc.

If you are a Minnesota railroad fan, make sure you check this book out.

RIch Peters, WCinfo

Beautiful... [Glischinski] does a fine job of explaining the near death of railroads and how suddenly they’ve come back with new track and new methods of transportation.

Dave Wood, Dave Wood’s Book Report

Contents

Author’s Note on Railroad Terminology
Acknowledgments

Introduction. Dominant, Disappearing, Reborn: Seventy Years of Minnesota Railroad
History

1. An Industry in Transition, 1940–1960

2. The Struggle for Survival, 1960–1980

3. Revival and Rehabilitation, 1980–2000

4. Railroading in the Twenty-first Century

Minnesota Railroads in 1940 and 2011


Notes
Bibliography
Index

UMP blog - Minnesota railroads turn 150 years old. And in 2012, they're doing better than ever.

6.28.2012 - On this day in 2012, the people of Minnesota are driving their cars; heading to airports to catch a flight, or maybe even grabbing a seat on Amtrak’s Empire Builder on its journey between the Midwest and the Pacific Coast.
They will think nothing of making these trips, though these trips would not have been possible if not for the events of June 28, 1862.
150 years ago.
On that long-ago day, a tiny steam locomotive built in New Jersey named the William Crooks pulled a passenger train from St. Paul to St. Anthony, near what is today Minneapolis’ St. Anthony Main area. It was the first run of a train in Minnesota, and marked the beginning of the railroad industry in Minnesota.

Read the full article.