Riding the Redwood rails

By Troy Krause
Editor
Posted Jun. 24, 2013 @ 12:01 am

For years the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad was a source of transportation for the communities through which its tracks ran. People would board the train heading for another destination along the line.

In more recent years those tracks had fallen into disrepair, and decades had passed since anyone had ridden on the line.

That all changed June 15-16 when the North American Rail Car Operators Association (NARCOA)?brought its form of transportation to the Minnesota Prairie Line and rode its "speeders"?down the track as far east as Winthrop and as far west as Hanley Falls.

After being given permission to drive its railroad motorcars on the tracks from the Minnesota Valley Regional Rail Authority – the multi-county organization which owns the rail itself – more than 30 members arrived in old North Redwood for the excursion.

David Voeltz, a member of NARCOA and the excursion coordinator, talked about the hobby as he drove his machine from North Red-wood to Fairfax. Click here to read the complete article!