A Milwaukee Road turntable in SW Minnesota ?

@trestleking posted:

My travels last week took me through Montevideo, MN.  In the category of "There's a Prototype for Everything" someone is using a turntable to store some ex-Milwaukee Road passengers cars. The roundhouse looks long-gone but it appears the turntable is still functional.  There can't be too many working turntables left in North America ?

You would be surprised at how many "working turntables" are still in use throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Isn’t that a Hiawatha observation car?

@train steve posted:

Isn’t that a Hiawatha observation car?

Yes. I seem to remember that they were called "Sky Top" observation cars. That, however appears to be just a body.

The turntable is part of the Milwaukee Road Heritage Center.

sad

Not as sad as hearing about the cars being scrapped.

at least they saved that much

@trestleking posted:

My travels last week took me through Montevideo, MN.  

Oh dear! That is a sad sight.

Made a stop there, back in July, when we were on a NARCOA excursions with our (speeders) motorcars. There once was a large railroad yard and shops there. As for the turntable, yes it still works, they were giving rides on it for the visitors. Just stand on it and around you go.

As for the Sky Tops, or whats left of them, the Heritage group saved them from being scrapped and their plans are to adopt them to a passenger car, some day.

Also there is building with a large operating layout in it and also an original hobo camp. The hobo camps date back many years and there are pans that have been there for years, which were hanging in the trees by nails, and the trees grew around them.

If you ever get a chance to stop there, it is a wonderful place to stop and look around.

@Yardmaster posted:

As for the Sky Tops, or whats left of them, the Heritage group saved them from being scrapped and their plans are to adopt them to a passenger car, some day.

Dismembered, outside and unprotected, I suspect the point of diminishing returns was passed a long time ago.

Rusty

As an aside to this thread, several years ago in Erie, PA, I saw these same Sky Tops (I think) on a barge near the shore by the brig, Niagara. Rumor was that they were going to be assembled into a railroad-themed restaurant, but that never happened. These have to be the same ones; I can't imagine too many Sky Top hulks laying around.

IIRC that turntable was used to turn Milwaukee 261 on a fantrip I was on maybe 7 or 8 years ago.

BTW the Minnesota Commercial RR. still has a working turntable and roundhouse in St. Paul MN. If you go to Google Maps and search "Minnesota Commercial Railroad" the arrow points to the roundhouse. It's not a big turntable, their largest diesels just barely fit on it.

As it happens, not far away is the Jackson St. (former GN) roundhouse / turntable of the Minnesota Transportation Museum.