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Looking west down the construction corridor from the Luce Line overpass. A lot of timber has been removed at this point, but little earth has been moved. The old trestle is being saved - it will be put into service about a half mile north (behind) this spot, over the old highway.
View looking northwest at the west end of track relocation, milepost 29 on the Wayzata Sub. The track enters a curve here, and a temporary access switch (3 panels visible at left of roadbed) will be installed to reach the new roadbed. New rail has been dropped (bottom right.)
Signal shack is installed at the west end of the Wayzata siding, extending the siding by 600 feet. The track in the foreground will be removed as soon as the new track is operational in "the groove".
The rail train at the west end of the construction area (looking west). The temporary switch is being installed just around the curve in the distance. The Cat is latching onto a couple of 'sticks' of rail, then the work train pulls away and the rail falls to the roadbed.
After the sticks have been extracted the Cat comes along and repositions the rail from the roadbed where it fell to the side of the active line. Notice the extra width roadbed where the Cat is driving; the second track used to be here before being ripped out in the 70's.
Once the new track was operational in the trench a rail train was called to collect the old rail from the mainline and passing track. A wedge-shaped sled at the end of the train prys the rails from the ties as the train advances. At quarter mile intervals the loose rails are cut and attached to those seen protruding from the end of the train, and are pulled into the train for transport |
I-394 west of the Twin Cities narrows to a two lane road at Long Lake. The new road will follow the BNSF tracks through town with both the track and the highway placed in a trench. The affected area is over three miles long and involves three highway over-passes, interchanges at each end of town, and a couple of pedestrian bridges. The project started in 2003 and will complete in 2007.
This view is just east of the pictures below, and shows the stockpiled rail. The roadbed begins to enter 'the groove' this side of the Crystal Bay bridge in the distance. The bridge has been demolished except for the span over the active line. As soon as the new track is operational this span will be removed and the new bridge completed.
The Cat, having grabbed another pair of sticks, locks his brakes while the rail train begins to move away, extracting another pair of rails to add to the stockpile in the work area.
Another shot of the rail train, showing the front half of the train. The taller car (3rd car from left) is the midpoint of the train; the rail is anchored there so that, as the train stretches and contracts during forward and backing operations, the rail stays centered on the flats instead of working its way off the end.
This is the start of track work - the new west-end switch of the Wayzata siding looking east. Ties have been set for about a quarter mile, rail has been positioned near-by, and the spiker is ready to go to work. The original plan was to start work at the west end of the project, but a 20' high fill in that area is still settling. So, Plan B, start in the middle!
This was the big switchover day. The old main was cut and is being pushed over to line up with the new main. There were a few kinks to be worked out when I took the picture, but an hour or two later the regulator had things looking pretty good. They ran the first trains at 10 mph until noon the next day when they raised the limit to 25 mph. This will remain in affect until the temporary switch at the west end is removed
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Looking west down the construction corridor as the new Luce Line bridge is being hoisted into position. The tracks - the main and the Wayzata siding - will eventually be placed under the left span; the highway under the right span. The track curves to the left, with the new roadbed entering a cut around the corner. The original track is elevated 15+ feet around that curve.
View looking southeast at the west end, with the path of the new roadbed deep in sand. I've yet to figure out why it's built up so deep - apparently stockpiled here to add compaction weight through the winter. The track curves 35-40 degrees to the east, and is pretty well elevated.
The preassembled switches arrived in gondolas, along with a number of hoppers loaded with ties. They are shown sitting on the the Wayzata work siding just a block or two from the Wayzata depot, a National Historic Landmark, open Wednesday and Weekend afternoons. Come visit us!
Here the rail train is moving slowly westward, and two stocks of rail can be seen descending to the roadbed.
This view looks west from the Luce Line bridge, and shows the initial track work. Ties have been laid for about a half mile, and rail is stretched out on both sides. This section will be double-tracked (main plus Wayzata siding.) The spiker is visible in the distance under a partially-done pedestrian bridge. The existing track can be seen under the right end of the bridge. Once the BNSF starts using the new track the old track and embankment will be removed, and the pedestrian bridge completed.
This is what the track looks like after the rail train passes. Here the ties, plates, spikes, clamps and ballast await pickup. Once that is done the remaining embankment will be removed to make room for the new road.
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An earlier picture
This panoramic view was taken in November, 2003 just East of Long Lake, Minnesota, with the center of the image looking North. The new Highway 12 will go where the BNSF Wayzata Sub tracks are; the tracks will be relocated about 50' this side of their current location.
The desolate area this side of the tracks was heavily wooded until recently -- notice the sizable pile of woodchips in the center of the photo. To the left there were a number of nice houses, now either relocated or demolished, One house is visible in what remains of a woods at the far right. The train trestle over the BNSF (far right) is the old Luce Line to western Minnesota, abandoned long ago and now a bike/hiking/horse trail. There are three viaducts at quarter-mile intervals under the tracks in this area, with one visible in the picture to the left. This one was totally hidden from view by large trees, and never had a paved surface; it and must have been abandoned long ago. Just to the right of the viaduct is a signal light; this is the West end of the Wayzata siding. The relocated track will be this side of the existing line, and about 8' lower. The siding will be extended 600' west from the current position.
The train was moving eastbound as five photos for this panorama were taken. This resulted in a few glitches as the individual shots were stitched together. Notice the short grain hopper just a couple of cars left of center! It also looks like the train is derailing about 10 cars to the right of center.
The picture shown here is about 800 pixels wide. If you've got a high-speed Internet connection you might want to view the big view which is over 11,000 pixels wide and 3.6 MB in size. Those with slower connections may want to try one of the smaller enlargements!