Duluth Union Depot in MR

[Anonymous]

As previously posted, I am attempting to locate information to help me model the Duluth Union Depot.

I recall seeing a featured layout in Model Railroader in which part of the Depot (I believe it was the SW face) was modelled as a flat or in bas-relief.

Can someone direct me to the article by year , month and page?

[jrbarney]

Didn't find the MR artcle using a keyword search at the Index of Magazines, but did find this citation which might be of some use:
The union depot that endured Trains, November 1973, page 20 preservation of Duluth Union Depot ( DULUTH, "KING, FRANKLIN A.", MINNESOTA, PRESERVATION, STATION, TRN )
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[Anonymous]

I have been informed that the station fabout which I need information is the Duluth Soo Line Union Station.

This station was accessed through a tunnel and served the Soo Line and The DSS&A which were CPR subsidaries.

It was demolished and replaced with another building.

[Anonymous]

The depot you describe is indeed the Soo Line's Duluth Station. It was opened about 1910 when the (original) Wisconsin Central entered Duluth. This station has been described as the grandest on the Soo Line. It was located about one block south and one block west from the Duluth Union Station (which has been preserved).

The Soo Line Station played host to the Laker (The Chicago - Duluth overnight train), as well as locals to Minneapolis / St. Paul and Plummer / Thief River Falls. I believe it also handled the DSS & A's train from Sault Ste. Marie, but that service ended in the 1930's.

The Soo Line Station and trackage was demolished in the 1970's to make way for an interstate highway interchange.

The Soo Line station was stub ended on the north and had six tracks with a single track throat that plunged through a short tunnel. The operator's shanty that controlled the station's switches was called Duluth Tunnel. There are only a few photos of the station around. I saw two in the book "Steam Trains of the Soo" by Leslie Suprey.

Your best bet for information or plans may be the Archives of the Soo Line Technical and Historical Society. They have a website and list a number of plans from original Soo Line corporate drawings. I don't know if they have these plans, but I'm sure the Society's members could be of help. Good luck!

[railman]

Did the Amtrak train that went to Dulute for a while go to the union depot?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses. I was fortunate to receive a copy of the article "The Union Depot that Endured" from Trains and one from the SOO magazine from the Duluth Union Depot. From what I have read the closing of the Soo Line Station in Duluth preceded Amtrak. According to the article "The Union Depot that Endured" the last scheduled train to use the Union Depot was NP's morning Budd RDC to Staples, MN on May 24, 1969. DM&IR ran its last train from the Union Depot in 1953 and GN left it earlier in 1969.