I Ride The Harlem Line

Tagged: hiawatha line

Best of 2012, a year-end review

Train Stories

Best of 2012, a year-end review

2012 has been an interesting year here at I Ride the Harlem Line… we finished up touring the stations on the New Haven, Port Jervis, Pascack Valley, and Hudson lines, as well as visited some places far outside Metro-North’s territory. As if that wasn’t enough, we also began our Grand Central 100 for 100 Project, posting one image every day for 100 days, all to celebrate Grand Central Terminal’s centennial. As is customary around the end of the year, let’s take a look back at what was most popular on the site this year, based on the number of reads…...

Thoughts on Minneapolis’ Stone Arch Bridge, and the Hiawatha Line’s Downtown East – Metrodome station

History / Photos

Thoughts on Minneapolis’ Stone Arch Bridge, and the Hiawatha Line’s Downtown East – Metrodome station

Early 1900’s panoramic view of the Stone Arch Bridge Several weeks ago when I interviewed Metro-North’s president, a few people (especially @CapnTransit on twitter) called attention to the question about Millerton – and specifically the “how do you de-map a rail trail,” comment that Mr. Permut made. It is an interesting point – in some ways a rail trail preserves a former railroad’s Right of Way, but the restoration of a rail line from a rail trail is exceedingly rare. Railroad bridges that are converted to rail-trail use are even more problematic. Bridges are not cheap to build – and...

Photos / Train Stories

Checking out the old Milwaukee Road depot in Minneapolis

Print of the Milwaukee Road depot by Mark Herman, from his wonderful Minnesota Landmarks series. Continuing with my series of photos from my trip to Minnesota, today we visit the old Milwaukee Road depot. It is a lovely building, wonderfully restored, dating from 1899. There haven’t been trains running past here since the 70’s, but the place has been given a new life as a hotel complex. A former train shed on the property has also been remade into an ice skating rink (awesome!). The depot was designed by architect Charles Sumner Frost, who also designed stations in Green Bay,...

Back in Minnesota – Minnehaha Station, old and new

Photos / Train Stories

Back in Minnesota – Minnehaha Station, old and new

The Minnehaha (popularly known as the “Princess”) Depot, 1971. [image credit] Months ago when planning my trip to Minneapolis, I came up with a short list of places that I had to visit while there. As you’d likely expect, many of the places were railroad-related. Last week I posted about Lake Street – Midtown station, which was one of the places on the Hiawatha Line I needed to see… or perhaps a more apt description – a station I needed to hear. Minnehaha Park was another place that had made the list. Inside the park is Minnehaha Falls – which...

The Hiawatha Line’s musical station: Lake Street – Midtown

Photos / Train Stories / Videos

The Hiawatha Line’s musical station: Lake Street – Midtown

Most public places – whether it be a shopping mall, park, or even a train station – has had at one time had some difficulties with loiterers and troublemakers. How to deter these troublemakers from hanging out is an often debated subject. A convenience store in South Wales tested out the “mosquito tone“, a high-pitched, obnoxious noise audible only to children (in theory, it depends on your hearing. I can definitely still hear it). Rowdy teens that once congregated around the store now avoid it due to the unpleasant noise. The “mosquito tone” is a quite crude solution to the...

Welcome to Minnesota, and the Hiawatha Line

Photos / Train Stories

Welcome to Minnesota, and the Hiawatha Line

  Map of the Hiawatha Line in a horizontal format. The line runs roughly north-south, so everything has been rotated to display the stations this way. When it comes to travel, I am always a fan of the odd and interesting – generally off the beaten track. After all, one doesn’t normally consider burning towns, sketchy Zimbabwean train stations, or big blocks of ice customary destinations for diversion. So when I recently decided to visit Minneapolis, I had been asked by at least one person why. Had I run out of interesting places to go? No, not really. While I...