Photo by Myotus, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
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About Minnesota Transportation Museum
Riding from the historic Osceola Depot, a heritage train traverses the scenic St. Croix River Valley, offering a 50‑minute round trip to Dresser, Wisconsin, and a 100‑minute journey to Marine, Minnesota, amid autumn foliage and special‑event themes. In Saint Paul, the Jackson Street Roundhouse provides Saturday train rides through a fully functional 1907 roundhouse, showcasing restored locomotives, Pullman coaches, and a 115‑foot turntable, all maintained by dedicated volunteers.
📍 ST. PAUL, MN 55130
History
The Minnesota Transportation Museum forms in 1962 to rescue a Twin City Rapid Transit streetcar, drawing many early members from the Minnesota Railfans Association that had run railfan trips since the 1940s. In 1967 the museum restores the former Milwaukee Road Minnehaha Depot, installing its first permanent exhibits. A 2004‑2005 transition moves the museum’s streetcar operations into the separate Minnesota Streetcar Museum, while the METRO Blue Line’s Minnehaha Park station opens across the road that same year. The museum’s bus fleet is withdrawn in 2019 when the entire collection is donated to a private party. In 2022 the Rock Island Business Car “Gritty Palace” is donated by the family of Art Pew, adding to the roundhouse’s inventory. The Jackson Street Roundhouse, erected by the Great Northern Railway in 1907, remains one of the last fully functional railroad roundhouses in the United States.
The Trains
The museum’s Jackson Street Roundhouse in St. Paul houses a variety of historic equipment, including the Northern Pacific steam engine No. 2156 (currently stabilizing for a “Steam Bay” exhibit), the F7A freight diesel under long‑term restoration, a Brill streetcar, and the Rock Island business car “Gritty Palace” donated in 2022, as well as Pullman coaches, Northern Pacific mail and baggage cars, and a 115‑foot turntable. On the Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway, excursion trains run from the historic Osceola depot north to Dresser, Wisconsin, and south through the St. Croix River Valley to Marine, Minnesota, with a regular round‑trip of roughly 50 minutes to Dresser and about 100 minutes to Marine; the line operates on former Wisconsin Central trackage now owned by Canadian National Railway and features classic 1920s open‑window coaches, Great Northern express cars, baggage car 265, and locomotives that are presently diesel‑electric, while the historic Northern Pacific No. 328 steam locomotive remains in restoration status.
Nearby
St. Paul is home to the Minnesota Transportation Museum, with the Minnesota Streetcar Museum about 11 mi off, the Excelsior Streetcar Line roughly 23 mi away, and the Gopher State Railway Museum about 35 mi out.
Where to Stay
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Most heritage railroads sit well off the interstate. Picking up a rental at the nearest airport is usually the easiest way in.
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