minneapolis

July 31, 2015

Public Art on the Green Line – Nancy Blum

It has never been a secret that I am a lover of transit-based art. One of the reasons I enjoy the light rail in Minneapolis so much is due to the abundance of art. The system’s newest line, the Green Line, has two very cool stations that were designed by artist Nancy Blum (she actually did three, but the two I’ll feature today are arguably the nicest on the line). You may be familiar with Blum, as she’s been mentioned on this blog before. One of her previous public art installations can be found through the Arts for Transit program...

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July 24, 2015

Following the Northstar – Minnesota’s Commuter Rail

During my first visit to Minneapolis several years ago, I took lots of photos of the new Hiawatha light rail line (now known as the Blue Line), but completely missed out a chance to check out their commuter rail. On my more recent trip to the Twin Cities, I made sure to see the Northstar. A few trains in the state have used variations on the name Northstar, including a now-defunct Amtrak train, a name which derives from Minnesota’s nickname as the North Star State, as it is the northernmost of the contiguous US states. Although it might not be...

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December 28, 2012

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…...

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August 17, 2012

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...

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July 15, 2012

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,...

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June 28, 2012

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...