Anybody here know anything about the Minnesota & Western Railroad Museum in Annandale, Minnesota? I can't find a website for this place.

Basically defunct. Located east of town, switch to Soo Line removed some time in the past. I stopped by two years ago. A couple of single sheathed boxcars were visible from the road, two steam locomotives are supposed to be on the property but not visible without trespassing. I inquired at the local newspaper and was guardedly told that the owner is well along in years and in an assisted living/nursing home.

There's a fair bit more information in this topic.

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21335&hilit=annandale

As far as I know there never was a rail connection, everything came in by truck, sometimes in pieces.

-Hudson

Yes, I don't think there ever was a switch off the Soo mainline there. I recall that Don had gotten a quote for such a switch, and the price was sky high.

Is there any kind of listing of what all is there other than the two steam locomotives and boxcars? The only thing I could find were a couple of ex Soo Line outfit cars converted from 1880's coaches. And is there a group in that area who could at least stabilize the salvagable pieces of equipment?

There was a museum along Hwy. 55, on the south side, just a mile or so west of Don Lind's collection. It was called something like "Pioneer Museum." They may still be there. They had a Soo Line wooden caboose. Don also has one in his collection.

The folks from the Colfax Railroad Museum met with Mr. Lind a number of times during the past year concerning his collection. The following is my recollection of the status of the items:
the two steamers are rough, but worth preserving, the Twin Cities street car body has been stripped of all yellow metal parts and is probably hopeless, the M&StL outside sheathed boxcar is in good shape, the older Soo Line caboose has collapsed and been burnt, the other Soo Line cabooses are rough, but still restorable, the Soo Line?DM&IR wooden passenger cars are strictly underbody & truck donors (falling down/broken backs etc) The Soo Line R-1/2 might have some parts that are usable,there is a CB&Q? wooden baggage that has a hole in the roof, but otherwise is still intact, there was one other wooden head end car up front that still appears intact, the Milwaukee Road metal reefer is in good shape, along with the metal baggage and metal combine. There was an older wooden passenger car body in the back that is now part of the landscape and a speeder that was in fair condition. There are one or two wooden outside braced boxcar bodies on the hill at the entrance that are really rough, probably parts cars bodies only. The station building has burnt. The best stuff were the semi tractors and trailers that dated back into the 40's/50's and some heavy early construction equipment.

The site has a stream meandering amongst the 'displays' that will cause problems trying to lift equipment onto trailers. The road back into the site needs dozer work to level and widen.

We spoke for quite some time to Don about his intentions, but it became evident he can no longer make decisions on what he wants to do. We heard by rumor, he has taken a turn for the worse. My guess is that his guardian or executor will eventually decide what happens. With the amount of land involved, probably a scrapper to clear all the stuff to prepare the property for commercial development.

Can't somebody simply buy Mr. Lind's collection? For starters, we can't afford to lose that Minneapolis & St. Louis 2-8-0 or the other steam engine.

Shame the Gopher State Railway museum is still getting established. That Louie loco would be perfect for their collection since the GSRM is right next to the old Louie main.

Is that the museum down near New Prague, MN? I have not heard much about them lately.

In addition to M&StL #471, there is an M&StL boxcar that I acquired from C&NW for $1 and gave to Don about 1974. The car did not have trucks, couplers, or brakes, but Don may have put other trucks under it. The car was in excellent condition with a pressed steel fishbelly frame and a manufactured steel roof. As I recall, there was no deterioration noticable anywhere in the wood or steel. The car originated as an Iowa Central RR car with Fox trucks.

Glad to hear that there is an organization keeping tabs on the situation. Hope they can rescue and salvage as much of the equipment as possible when the time comes. And thanks for the report, Herb. I wish you the best of luck with your efforts.

As I said in my first post, we spoke to Mr. Lind at length. We even proposed some financial options, but he COULD NOT reach any type of decision. I think the only hope is maybe the brother does something before they call the scrappers.
Herb Sakalaucks
Chairman
Colfax Railroad Museum

I recall finding on the web a photo of the streetcar at this museum. I recall that it was complete, but also with soggy woodwork. As a parts source, even missing electrical contacts, it would be very valuable in a trolley restoration. Perhaps it could be used as a parts source to restore a body, such as this one:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/view2share/3809552147/

What remains is extremely water logged. I couldn't get through the interior, way too dangerous and I've gone through some pretty worn out/decayed equipment. Nothing there for salvage.
Herb Sakalaucks

The body in Wisconsin could be restored I suppose, but our Museum doesn't need another TCRT "standard" streetcar. The body was sold at auction several years ago. Yes, there are some nice hardware parts that we could strip and put in our spare parts bins. We especially would like the back-up controls shown in one of the photos.

As for the Lind streetcar, IIRC it's TCRT standard car No. 1811. It's frame was broken in a move about 10 years ago and as a result was beyond restoration when that happened. If what I read about the bad condition of the wood is true, it's a gonner.

Thanks!