Westminster Junction Tunnel #3

Photos

Photo taken by Jerry Huddleson

License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

View this photo on Flickr

BH Photo #266966

Map

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Description

Westminster Junction is a busy railroad interchange point, sending trains towards Minneapolis, Eau Claire and La Crosse. The 2 level interchange serves BNSF, Canadian Pacific and Union Pacific. A standard wye makes up the top level, and a BNSF double track mainline splits making up the lower level. The Great Northern and Chicago Northwestern interchanged on top, and the Northern Pacific and Soo line below. All four railroads could interchange with each other here.

The four tunnels of the congested railroad corridor located at Westminster were built between 1885 and 1909. There was a fifth, the Soo Line tunnel, which has since been filled.

Facts

Overview: Tunnel carrying BNSF Railway under Westminster Jct East Wye Track
Location: St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota
Status: Open to traffic
History: Built 1885
Railroads: - BNSF Railway (BNSF)
- Canadian Pacific Railway (CP)
- Chicago & North Western Railway (CNW)
- Great Northern Railway (GN)
- Northern Pacific Railroad (NP)
- Soo Line Railroad (SOO)
- Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
Design: Tunnel
Dimensions: Total length: 680.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude: +44.96151, -93.08615 (decimal degrees)
44°57'41" N, 93°05'10" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 15/493205/4978678 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:: Saint Paul East
Inventory number: BH 53264 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

July 18, 2017: New photos from John Marvig
September 21, 2013: Photo imported by Luke Harden
August 26, 2012: Updated by John Marvig: Added categories "Westminster Junction", "Railroad"

Sources

John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com