DM&E at Owattona MN

[Matthew J. Frahm]

La Verne Andreessen <LaVerne.Andreessen> writes:

>A southern MN fan told me the DME has taken over the switching in
>Owattona for the Soo Line. The main business is related to the food
>canning plants located on the Soo Line just north of where the DME & Soo
>Line cross.

Really? I'll have my friend in Waseca ask the trainmaster for
confirmation on that.

>The UP dispatches the Soo Line track from Comus north to Farmington -
>believe that is the end of Soo Line track. The UP/CNW/RI have had
>operating rights on this line for many years, but due to the limited Soo
>Line traffic, the CNW took over the CTC dispatching via their Chicago
>offices several years ago. I understand the UP now controls the CTC from
>Omaha.

>Does this mean the Soo Line plans to rid themselves of most of this
>trackage in the future?

Possibly... but maybe not. It's just that UP runs most of the trains on
the line... so why should CP bear the costs of dispatching it when the CP
probably only sends a train a day down there?

>Does the Soo Line enter Northfield via the old MN&S (they switch a large
>plant just southwest of downtown Northfield), or do they come down via
>their ex-Milwaukee Line - the one now dispatched by the UP?

I'm pretty sure it's the latter... though I think the ex-MNS tracks still
exist as far as Northfield. Perhaps one of the other Minnesotans has this
info.

If the
>latter, where do the Soo Line trains enter the UP tracks - at the north
>end of Pigs Eye Yard in St. Paul via the old St. Paul Belt & Transfer
>yard??

Either through Belt Yard or over the ex-CGW Robert Street Bridge. I saw a
Roseport job come through UP's S St Paul yard and cross the river to Belt
Yard then back into Pig's Eye the other day. I think the Robert Street
bridge would be more convenient for longer trains though because no back
up move is required.

>More than curious.

--
Matthew J. Frahm________________________mailto:mfr...@visi.com
Stillwater, Minnesota http://www.visi.com/~mfrahm/
"Bureaucracy, credentialing, taxation, litigation, and regulation. These
are the five great enemies that killed the entrepreneurial spirit."--N.G.

[La Verne Andreessen]

A southern MN fan told me the DME has taken over the switching in
Owattona for the Soo Line. The main business is related to the food
canning plants located on the Soo Line just north of where the DME & Soo
Line cross.

The UP dispatches the Soo Line track from Comus north to Farmington -

believe that is the end of Soo Line track. The UP/CNW/RI have had
operating rights on this line for many years, but due to the limited Soo
Line traffic, the CNW took over the CTC dispatching via their Chicago
offices several years ago. I understand the UP now controls the CTC from
Omaha.

Does this mean the Soo Line plans to rid themselves of most of this
trackage in the future?

Does the Soo Line enter Northfield via the old MN&S (they switch a large

plant just southwest of downtown Northfield), or do they come down via

their ex-Milwaukee Line - the one now dispatched by the UP? If the

latter, where do the Soo Line trains enter the UP tracks - at the north
end of Pigs Eye Yard in St. Paul via the old St. Paul Belt & Transfer
yard??

More than curious.

LaVerne W. Andreessen

[Fred Hyde]

La Verne Andreessen <LaVerne.Andreessen> writes:

>Does this mean the Soo Line plans to rid themselves of most of this
>trackage in the future?

This may be related to CP's move to sell off the "corn/grain lines",
everything in northern Iowa and southern MN. The former MILW south of
Comus (split fromthe UP "Spine") is dormant all the way to Blooming
Prairie, and that town is served by a turn out of either Austin or Mason
City.

>Does the Soo Line enter Northfield via the old MN&S (they switch a large
>plant just southwest of downtown Northfield), or do they come down via
>their ex-Milwaukee Line - the one now dispatched by the UP? If the
>latter, where do the Soo Line trains enter the UP tracks - at the north
>end of Pigs Eye Yard in St. Paul via the old St. Paul Belt & Transfer
>yard??

CP still keeps two units at Northfield, to my knowledge, which run from
there to Savage and back. The old MN&S bridge across the Minnesota River
is out of service. I believe the Northfield units bring traffic back to
Savage, and its picked up by the CP Shakopee Turn. (this is as much as I
know now, it's dated so may not be accurate any more)

Fred H.