I've been watching the restoration of the Knife River depot over on the "Ahead of the Torch" website. Here's the depot before the project began:

http://www.missabe.com/cms/prototype/knife-river-depot

The ex-DM&IR depot was originally Duluth & Northern Minnesota and is on the North Shore Scenic Railroad train route that runs out of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth. I'm very impressed with the work that has been done thus far.

Les

Point of clarification: The Knife River depot was originally built to serve commuter rail service at a point called Lester Park on the eastern edge of Duluth. This service was offered by a partnership of the Duluth & Iron Range and the Northern Pacific out of Duluth Union Depot starting about 1886. When the Duluth Street Railway's trolleys were extended to Lester Park in 1892, the D&IR dropped its portion of the commuter service, and the depot sat largely unused until the fall of 1899 when it was moved on flatcars to Knife River in order to serve the growing traffic to and from the Duluth & Northern Minnesota Railway. The depot has always been D&IR / DM&IR property, but it was utilized by the D&NM for their scheduled mixed trains while they ran.

Nick -

Thanks for the correction.


Les

There's another nice photo update by Nick today on the restoration progress on the AOTT site. It's amazing that they have made such progress with the "building inspector" always seeming to be on the property checking every detail out! BTW, one extremely nice thing they are doing in the restoration is restoring the operators bay (with dormer) to the depot.

Les

My son (The Building Inspector) does have a sharp eye for detail...

Here's one of the pics from today's update, as well as a shot from Sunday's steam excursion to Two Harbors courtesy of Dave Schauer. Someday in the not too distant future the goal is to have a siding and spur at Knife River, creating an additional destination for North Shore Scenic Railroad trains that avoids the use of CN trackage. The third photo is the public beach located less than a city block from the Knife River depot.

Nick -

I see on the AOTT website, that the operators bay is now being closed in and that windows are also being installed. Great! I wonder in David Schauer's photo of DM&IR 332 rushing past, if the little building just beyond the depot might have been used as the "freight station" after the depot was shortened and made into a passenger only structure? If so, is it too going to eventually be restored?

Les

Great photos and great that the restoration is taking place. The picture of the beach is beautiful. But I can't imagine any but the hardiest of the hardy swim in that lake. I think the last of the ice flows melt in August. I would think the "Polar Bear" swim that most people celebrate on Jan 1st would be the equivalent of swimming in Lake Superior in July? Seriously great photos and quite an undertaking. Regards, John.

Got the answer on Nick's latest update on AOTT. Seems that the little structure beyond the depot WAS the freight station and it is being moved to a slightly different location before restoration.

Les

Recent photos on the AOTT website, show this depot restoration as pretty well finished. Photo today for a Veteran's Day ceremony with new flag pole installed also showed a semaphore type train order board in place. Could not tell for sure if the T.O. board is to be operated from the operators bay of the station, or if it's strictly going to be a cosmetic, non-operating, display.


Les

Nick had a couple of photos on the AOTT website of the Knife River depot which show that the freight depot is painted on at least two sides. Nice view in the heavy snow. Building inspector looked preoccupied with cookies so may not have made the inspection today.

Looking forward to a more "normal" 2021. Hope everyone has a wonderful New Year!


Les