Great Northern "K-Line"

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GN LogoThe Great Northern “K -Line” was a branch line from Sauk Centre to Cass Lake that served the small communities in north central Minnesota. Running from Sauk Centre and north through a series of small towns, the branch crossed the Northern Pacific RR at Wadena Minnesota. The line continued to Park Rapids where it took a north easterly turn and served several small lumber towns eventually coming to Walker Minnesota where the branch again crossed the NP on its way to Cass Lake.

Traffic on the branch is fed by the Twin Cities – Fargo mainline passing through Sauk Centre and the Duluth- Grand Forks mainline passing through Cass Lake. The layout includes portions of these mainlines with staging at each end. The Twin Cities-Fargo and Duluth-Grand Forks trains are operated to provide traffic for the branch as well as movement from the branch. There are 15 staging tracks to support the movement of freight and passenger traffic on the layout.

The modeled towns on the railroad follow the typical GN 3 track arraignment: main line, passing siding and the industrial track. Each house track is populated with a variety of industries. In addition, several towns have a house track and separate tracks for larger industries. All the track layouts are based on the prototype. The main goal of the railroad is to simulate the branch line traffic of a mid-Minnesota line which had some diversity in traffic, from potatoes and wheat south of Park Rapids to lumber on the northern portion. The largest yard in the layout is Cass Lake which was a crew change point on the Superior to Grand Forks Line. On the south end, Sauk Center which was on the GN line between St. Cloud and Fargo sees a few freights as well as cameo passenger appearances by the Western Star, Red River, and the Winnipeg Limited. There are no long main line runs on the branch, it is designed for switching the towns.

Superintendent Don McGlothlin
Division or Location: GN Branch in north central Minnesota
Interchange Railroads: None
Size of Railroad: Main room 23’x21’ with a 7’x16’ area in second room.
Scale: HO
Era: September/October 1959
Control System: Digitrax UT4
Length of Session: 2 1/2 Hours
Number of Crew: 7
Train Control: Time Table & Train Order
Are Radios Required: No
Listed Jobs: Cass Lake YM, Dispatcher, Mainline train operator, local crews (2 person each), branch line train engineers.
Accessibility: Stairs
Distance from hotel: 23 miles
Estimated travel time from hotel: 26 minutes
Web Site: {None...yet}
Pets: 2 dogs and 2 cats which are kenneled.

Layout photos coming soon.

Information

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