Nice story from Preservation Online about this beautiful stone depot in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. At one time part of the Mineral Point & Northern Ry, and later Milwaukee Road, the station now stands along side an extensive rail-trail system.

Nice to see it being given some attention.

http://www.nationaltrust.org/magazine/archives/arc_news/092203.htm
SJHussar@aol.com

The Mineral Point Railroad Society has a website. It's linked below.

Boyd


Mineral Point Railroad Society Website

bowens@rypn.org

Too bad the track couldn't have been left in place for a revival, instead of selling it for a pittance in scrap. Mineral Point would seem a good place for a small excursion operation.

ryarger@rypn.org

> Mineral Point would
> seem a good place for a small excursion
> operation.

Agreed, in fact just the 10 or so mile stretch between Darlington and Mineral Point would have made for a very scenic ride.

The well-kept Darlington depot is now owned and operated by the Lafayette Co. Historical Society which houses a museum for railroad artifacts in it. But conspicuously absent are the rails which once lay just outside.




SJHussar@aol.com

As recently as 1988 I still remember the tracks being in place. I'm not sure when they were actually pulled up.
I'm not sure if they ever actually went there, but I know at one time there were talks of the old Golden Arrow excursions going to Mineral Point.

Boyd

bowens@rypn.org

> Nice story from Preservation Online about
> this beautiful stone depot in Mineral Point,
> Wisconsin. At one time part of the Mineral
> Point & Northern Ry, and later Milwaukee
> Road, the station now stands along side an
> extensive rail-trail system.

> Nice to see it being given some attention.

As a kid, I remember visiting Mineral Point to see some friends who were visiting relatives in the town. I don't remember seeing the depot but I DO remember the roundhouse. The turntable pit had water in it and there were cattails (or something similar) growing there. The roundhouse was empty of any locomotives but fascinating nevertheless. I suppose this structure got torn down?

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, IN)

midlandblb@cs.com

During my exploration of Mineral Point back in the early 80's (there's LOTS of great historical stuff to see there), I never saw a roundhouse or turntable. Besides the depot and the rusty, overgrown tracks into town (the line had been truncated there at the time), I didn't find anything else railroad related. So, I'd say yes, it's gone.

Boyd

bowens@rypn.org

> at one time there were
> talks of the old Golden Arrow excursions
> going to Mineral Point.

Boyd,
I came across this page devoted to the Golden Arrow excursions in 1984. Since there is no mention of Mineral Point I'm assuming it never happened. It's stated that Prairie du Chien was a planned destination as well, but that proved unrealistic due to track condition.



http://www.whrc-wi.org/Golden_Arrow/goldenarrow1a.htm
SJHussar@aol.com

God, I love terraserver.

Below is a link to a 1984 topo map of Mineral Point on terraserver. Note the turntable(?) in the center where the new purple road heads south before dog legging.

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?t ... 1&z=15&w=1

Now, look at this ariel photo taken in 2000. Note the "crop circle" in the center of the map.

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?t ... 3&z=15&w=1

I think the turntable and roundhouse are long gone.

But it is fun to hunt and find them on the map. Hmmm. I think its time to go on a TMER&L hunt.

Charles



bg23338@binghamton.edu

After a bit of research, I confirmed that the turntable and enginehouses (there were two, haven't confirmed if they were both roundhouses or not) were demolished sometime prior to 1970.
They were located roughly across from the depot.
Still looking for more info...

Boyd

bowens@rypn.org