Minnesota
End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum packs big history into small-town Minnesota
City parks are all across Minnesota. But a town in Murray County has one that’s gone off its rails.
Currie, Minnesota, is truly small-town America. The population hovers at just over 200. But on the northern outskirts, you’ll happen upon a place with plenty of bells and whistles: End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum.
“It’s like a little village from way back when. You have your church. You’ve got a school,” said visitor Larry Diedrich.
You’ve also got railroad relics, up and down the tracks.
“1901 was when the first line was put in here,” said Jake Halverson, site manager for End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum.
Halverson said Currie was once a thriving railroad town. In fact, it was the end of the line for steam engines heading west. If you wanted to go east, Currie was your gateway to the rest of the world. The first stop was Bigham Lake.
“From Bigham Lake they could go to Minneapolis, from Minneapolis to Chicago, from Chicago to New York,” said Halverson.
But by mid-century the last train had left the station. No sooner did that happen than teenagers from the local 4H club began to clean up the abandoned turntable.
The platform was used to turn 400,000-pound steam engines around when they hit the end of the line. Thanks to the 4Hers, it still works today.
The club also bought the train depot for $1 from the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company and moved it closer to the turntable.
“That is really the beginning of maybe bringing more attention to the history of the railroad here,” said Halverson.
It’s history that comes in all shapes and sizes, including a model railroad that’s a replica of a time that was.
“It was built to look like what Currie was 100 years ago,” said Halverson.
Much of what you see at the park and museum is original, including a 125-year-old water tower that was moved to the site from Walnut Grove.
The caboose nearby originally came from South Dakota. The locomotive once ran in Georgia.
The rail business may have left Currie, but the love for trains never did. It’s a chance to celebrate big history in a small town.
“Wherever there have been trains, there have been people who are fascinated by them,” said Halverson. “I think this is an opportunity for individuals to learn about not only this part of Minnesota but to know where this part of Minnesota fits in with the rest of the world.”
The End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum is open from Wednesday through Sunday from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.
On a hot summer day, about 250 people decided that a sprint through the mud was the best way to spend time.
That’s how many registered for the annual Minnewashta Mud Run on Saturday. Racers of all ages jumped in tubs of mud, made their way through various obstacles, and fired down a massive slip and slide powered by the Chanhassen Fire Department.
Micah Ostergard, the Recreational Specialist with Carver County Parks, said it’s an event he looks forward to each year.
“I think one of the great parts of being in this line of work for me is to see the joy that people have when they come out to an event like this,” Ostergard said.
The Mud Run, for now, helps to raise money for both Carver County Parks and the Minnetonka school system. Ostergard said that there are conversations in the works to transform it into a formal fundraiser to help underprivileged children access programs that may otherwise be too costly.
Either way, the focus was on fun and getting muddy on Saturday morning. That was 14-year-old Ingrid Boldischar’s goal when she convinced her family, including two younger brothers, to ender the Mud Run.
“Everyone really likes getting dirty so, it’s just a fun thing!” Boldischar said.
While she partook in the full course, which amounts to a 5-k for runners that go around twice, younger children enjoyed a smaller version of the run. That included Margot Bennett and Gus Youngstedt, two four-year-old best friends who arrived at the Mud Run on Saturday morning after throwing their first slumber-party together.
Their parents, Annie Fagerlee and Dani Youngstedt, said they had a wonderful time on Saturday morning.
“It’s a designated spot for our kids to get as muddy and wet as possible that’s not in our house,” Fagerlee said.
David Brandt, a Chanhassen firefighter, was happy to play his part manning the firehouse. He estimated they used up to three thousand gallons to keep the slip and slide going, providing relief from the heat.
“We come out every summer, cool off the kids, give them some water,” Brandt said.
While temperatures going above 90 on Saturday afternoon, parents and organizers alike were grateful that the outdoor Mud Run kicked off by about 8:30 in the morning.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Expect a sunny Saturday with heat expected to build up this weekend before an even hotter work week.
Saturday forecast
Local perspective:
Winds stay light out of the south with plenty of sunshine today.
There are hints of an extremely isolated thundershower, but the chance of that happening over any given area is extremely small.
Expect highs to peak in the upper 80s with dew points in the mid to upper 60s this afternoon.
Extended forecast
What’s next:
This forecast is hot.
Highs will peak in the 90s every day this upcoming week for the Twin Cities and a large portion of the area as well.
Dew points really don’t look to surge into the 70s but mainly stay in the lower to upper 60s depending on the day of the week.
Little to no precipitation forecast this upcoming week. Expect dry and sunny days.
The Source: This story uses information from the FOX 9 weather forecast.
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