Strange Ordinance

[Anonymous]

I decided to take a drive this Sat. afternoon and I drove west on MN Hwy. 55 from the Twin Cities paralleling the former SOO main.  I'd been out that way before, but I just wanted to see trains (other than BNSF and UP that I'm tired of) and eat at a nice Italian bistro there in Glenwood.

As I was driving, I stopped-off in Brooten where the SOO's line from Moose Lake connected with the main.  The Moose Lake line remains only for maybe a couple miles northeast out of Brooten, used for car storage it appears.  Beyond that it's pulled-up.  The wye track that allowed westbound SOO trains on the main to switch onto the line heading for Moose Lake has been removed completely.

I had my backpack with me just in-case, and I thought it'd be neat to hike a few miles on the abandoned Moose Lake line, and see what may be left (find an old flanger sign or a phone box off in the weeds). 

But there at a grade-crossing where the old ROW crossed a dirt county road is a big sign: "CLOSED EXCEPT FOR SNOWMOBILES" by official order of Stearns County.

Now I can understand if farmers don't want people in ATVs roaring along the ROW and potentially straying-off the trail and destroying their crop.  That I can fathom.  But I fail to see why they need to restrict it to only snowmobiles?  Would someone HIKING ON FOOT or riding a mountain bike do any damage?  I can't believe it's to keep kids from going out there to party - they'd do it anyway or just find some other place out there in the middle of nowhere.

That I found irritating and I'm going to contact Stearns County and find-out the rationale.

[TomDiehl]

My guess would be you'll get an answer related to the safety of the hiker/walkers. If the old ROW is open for only snowmobiles, and you're hiking there, it's a good possibility you could get run over by one of them. They can move fast, and if they're kicking up snow, visibility is limited for the driver.

[mudchicken]

I would suspect that erosion prevention has a large part to do with the local order (snow makes for a nice cushion) and that the county is using the current vegitation as a silt buffer in it's land management (IF it owns the abandoned R/W.....Just because it's abandoned doesn't automatically make it a trail....as the STB is about to find out, there are all kinds of wive's tales, fairy tales and bold faced lies out there regarding rails-to-trails)