Category: Uncategorized
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The Sad Saga of Northern Pacific 2156
In 1909 the Northern Pacific railroad obtained several Baldwin ‘Q-3’ 4-6-2 Pacific locomotives for use on passenger lines west of the Twin Cities. Four of the series survive today. Two of them (2153 and 2156) are owned by the Minnesota Transportation Museum and stored at the Jackson Street Roundhouse in St Paul Minnesota. Neither is…
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On Northern Lights
We chased the Aurora Borealis a few weeks ago and found decent light displays – better than I’ve seen in a long time. But we were too close to the metro area to get the best view. The lights were straight overhead at times, hence the reports and photos from far to the south. In…
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You know you are in Ely when …
The twenty-six mile marathon is also a twenty-six mile portage. Ely Minnesota is a gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, where outfitting and guiding is a significant contribution to the local economy. It makes sense then, that the annual Ely Marathon has a ‘Portage’ class where runners portage their canoes (I. E. run…
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… All Summer Long
The summer went fast, as it always does. Working in the locomotive shop at the railroad museum made it go way faster. The Minnesota Transportation Museum runs a tourist train on Saturdays and Sundays (the Osceola & St. Croix Valley Railway) and owns the Jackson Street Roundhouse in St. Paul Minnesota, where they maintain static…
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Christmas in the swamp
I hate to call this a tradition but for some reason I often end up spending Christmas Day tromping around in a woods or swamp. Last year we were camping down in Arkansas and spent Christmas hiking in a swampy Arkansas State Park. This year my dad and I spent the afternoon of Christmas Day…
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I’m glad I’m not this fish.
I caught the osprey flying off with his catch. A minute later a bald eagle started to chase the osprey, presumably to force it to drop the fish. An easy meal for the eagle, if it works. Later that day I caught the bald eagle chasing after an osprey again, with what appears to be…
Michael Janke 