National Train Day is this Saturday, May 10th. It’s a great week for trains in my area. After a 40+ year absence, trains are again arriving and departing from Union Depot in downtown St. Paul. The first “new” arrival was late last evening. And late it was, by 70 minutes.
The Depot has been beautifully refurbished. It is now a place where travelers can board local buses, MegaBus, Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, and in mid-June, the Green Line light rail opens. That line runs from downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis.
The Union Depot is a place where my paternal Grandpa Earl James Stuart took my cousin Dave and me to watch the trains. Grandpa was a superintendent with the Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Omaha Railway. His brother LaMer Stuart and Uncles Fred and Lou (L.F.) Slaker worked for the same railroad in Wisconsin and Minnesota. A maternal Great Granduncle Sam Dow (Daoust) worked for the Omaha as did maternal Great Granduncle Thomas Hanley, a half-brother to my Grandpa Michael Hanley. I keep writing about these men in hope some descendant of theirs ever reads my blog!
© 2014, Paula Stuart-Warren. All rights reserved.
