Friday September 3
It was a dreary day so we headed indoors to explore the Lake Superior Railroad Museum located in the basement and outdoors of the Duluth Union Depot. The Depot was built in 1892. The train shed was built over the original wooden depot and that is where the old engines and cars were located, sitting on some of the old rails.
The first locomotive in Minnesota was built in 1861 and ran between St. Paul and Minneapolis and was named William Crooks engine. The second oldest was built in 1870 and named the Minnetonka and was the first for the Northern Pacific RR.
The largest engine, the DM&IR #227 (1941), was the most powerful steam locomotive ever built, weighing over 1 million pounds. The have installed lights, motion and sound on it so one can get a feel for it’s power.
We saw ore cars, refrigerator cars, logging cars, a log loader and a huge snow blower/plow. Of course they had a caboose and some luxury passenger /business cars.
Around the train display was a miniature Duluth with stores containing antiques of that era that might have been found in those stores.
The upper levels of the Union Depot housed art galleries and was connected to a Performing Arts wing.
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