When was the NP (i think it was)trackage north of Hinckley pulled up??? what is now the Willard Munger state trail.

any one have any pics of the old diamond also??? I frequent the area in Hinckley alot, where I assume the diamond was, as it is one of my favorite spots. I would like to have an idea of what it used to look like.

on edit, I am including my email for any visitors so they can get ahold of me. Matt_Hagfors@hotmail.com[/i]

_________________
A BNSF fan by default.

Just keeping this alive. I am still very interested in some OLD hinckley picks, the guys from the St.Croix River Valley RR in Rush City and I were talking the other day and he had a bunch of old pics of Rush city, 1910 era. would like some more to add to collection.

_________________
A BNSF fan by default.

_________________
Stix

Now on the old CB&Q / MILW mainline!!

_________________
MyPhoto's
More of myPhoto's

It is the old LS&M grade. The Willard Munger trail goes all the way up to Duluth. I rode my mountain bike on it back in 2003 from Duluth down to the northern edge of Carlton. The reason why the grade was abandoned was because of how steep the grades actually were at the time. Dave Schauer notes this in the Twin Ports Railfan Guide...

I believe the NP line going north was possibly pulled the same time the SKALLY was pulled here in St. Paul, MN. up through Maplewood in 1984. The BN kept intact the section between North Branch and Hinckley due to the business they had on the line.

After BN brought GN and NP together, they had no need for two routes from the Twin Cities to the Twin Ports. The Diamond in Hinckley was pulled because they are a maintenance headache. BN rerouted the NP line and added the North and South switches. The rest of the story is pretty well documented.