Minneapolis MN Light Rail - Line Side Views - Hiawatha (Blue) Line - May 2005

You can find all Barry Train videos at youtube.com/@barrytrain662/videos Minneapolis Light Rail – May 2005 Metro is a high-capacity rapid transit network serving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. In 1999, the Minnesota Legislature approved funding for the first line (the present Blue Line) along Hiawatha Avenue (initially named the Hiawatha Line) in south Minneapolis, which opened in 2004. In 2011, in anticipation of the opening of the Red Line and Green Line, and in order to help passengers better identify with each of the routes, Metro Transit announced that the system would be rebranded and each line assigned a unique color. The Metro Blue Line (formerly called the 55 - Hiawatha Line) is a 12-mile (19.3 km) light rail line in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from downtown Minneapolis to the southern suburb of Bloomington. The line was originally named after Hiawatha Avenue which runs parallel to a good portion of the line. Equipment: Bombardier Flexity Swift light rail vehicles (LRVs). This video was made in May, 2005. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Minnehaha Depot was built in 1875 to replace a smaller station on the first railroad line on the west bank of the Mississippi River, connecting Minneapolis with Chicago. It was designed by the Minnesota Central Railway Company engineers in a style called Carpenter-Gothic, and features elaborate “gingerbread” ornamentation made possible by the recently invented jigsaw and precut, or dimension, lumber. The delicate decoration includes cockscomb detailing along the roofline, ornamental eave triangles, fans, and spires. The building itself is only 22 feet by 20 feet, while the platform measures 75 feet from end to end. The exterior is painted in the Milwaukee Road colors of orange siding with boxcar red trim and wainscoting. The station supported passenger service until 1920 and continued to operate as a freight station until 1963.