What's Here:
Small UP yard
Diamond crossing with tower (tower closed)
Two vintage depots
Another small UP yard about 9mi north in Clark's Grove for grain transfer
Two bio-processing facilities 6mi SE of town
Windmill farm NW of town
Data:
GPS Coordinates: as needed
Phone A/C: 507
ZIP: 56007
Access by train/transit:
None
Geography:
Flat with small hills
The Scoop:
Years ago, Albert Lea had a lot of railroading for it's size. Now, it's
pretty quiet, with a small UP yard on the northeast side of town. The
tower in the pictures below is closed, and the signals there are typical of
how railroads now protect crossings with other railroads.
The Union Pacific trackage used to belong to the CNW, and the IC&E was
formerly the Milwaukee (and then SOO). I need to do further research
into the lineage for the DM&E/UP's track heading NW out of town, after
it was the M&StL. If anyone knows and wants to share, please email me.
Update Feb 2014 - The M&StL / UP north/south line was vacated several years
ago (in 2011) and all trackage has been removed. It was vacated as far
as the grain elevator (pictured at the bottom of the
page) which is now served from the North only through Waseca.
This eliminated the western diamond on Front St and the junction on the south
side as well. Jim Mihalek provided a link to an article on the change:
http://www.albertleatribune.com/2011/11/a-future-trail/
My pictures were taken in October of 2006 on a field trip with Jim M and Mike
Miller. Jim's pictures are a -little- more recent from 2009.
This page originally just covered the eastern diamond, but has since grown
into a guide for the whole town. If you're scooting by on the
interstates 35 or 90, it's well worth a stop since it's so close.
Mason City Iowa isn't too far away either, and is a favorite railfan spot
because of Iowa Traction.
If you look around on Google or Bing Maps, you will notice that you can't go
much more than 10 miles and not find a grain tower, and many of these are
conveniently located on a rail line!
The Lakeside Cafe comes highly recommended.
Update February 2014 - The Lakeside Cafe is closed, and there is no substitute
for their menu of fresh baked goods and sandwiches. :-( :-( Michael
suggest either the B&B Cafe or The Elbow Room if you are
looking for non-chain meals.
Out of the map services from Google, Bing, and Mapquest, Mapquest -had-
the best satellite photos of Albert Lea when I originally did this page, but
in 2013, Google has some terrific satellite photos of Albert Lea, as
seen below. I left the Mapquest map here, because it labels the
railroads!
Acknowledgments:
Jim Mihalek - Information and pictures
Mike Miller - Information.
Michael Johannsen - 2014 Update
The diamond was easily accessible from Front St. NOTE: Around ~2012, this diamond was removed. :-(
Left - looking south...... right - looking north across the diamond with the M&StL depot in the distance.
Photos - a big thanks to Jim Mihalek
Photo by Kevin Klitzke
Above - we're looking in the same direction as the right picture above, circa 2003, picture via Jim from the FB Minnesota RR group.
Looking east with the simple diamond
crossing protection signal, there is also one for the N-S UP track.
This is where the Rock Island and the M&StL joined up.
Thanks to Jim Mihalek for the pictures of the junction from 2004.
NOTE: As of (around) 2012, this switch was removed and nothing remains.
The pictures below come from the Albert Lea Tribune article linked above.
I'm guessing the trestle pictured is the last bridge on the UP list.....
14 years later (2026), hardly anything remains to tell you that a railroad used to come thru here, but if you know the telltale signs, you know.
These screenshots come from where 240th Street crosses the former ROW, a few feet off of 13.
This location is about 5 miles (7.3km) north of the western diamond in Albert Lea.
There are spots along the ROW that have recovered quite nicely, this is 1.6mi 2.6km) north of the location above.
Interlocking signal on the west side of the diamond and Newton
GPS Coordinates: 43.64502, -93.36770
Interlocking signals on the east side of the diamond and Newton
GPS Coordinates: 43.64552, -93.36666
The EB Distant Signal at Front St.
GPS Coordinates: 43.64390, -93.37523
A distant signal for EB traffic on the approach to the diamond. This
permanently yellow signal with the "D" plate signifies that this is a distant
signal for the two aspect signal at the diamond, and to approach the next signal
at a reduced speed in case the train needs to stop.
The Union Pacific Yard
The eastern Diamond between the IC&E and the UP
Signal on the west side of Newton
Signals on the east side of Newton and at the
diamond
The ex Milwaukee Depot
The ex M&StL Depot
The western Diamond between the IC&E and the UP
Photo by Kevin Klitzke
Looking east with the simple diamond
crossing protection signal, there is also one for the N-S UP track.
photo courtesy Jim Mihalek
As of January 2016
As of January 2016
As of January 2016
UP junction on the south side
The Grain Tower
Jim Mihalek photo
Interlocking signal on the west side of the diamond and Newton
Interlocking signals on the east side of the diamond and Newton
The EB Distant Signal at Front St.
Jim Mihalek photo
