Black and white photograph of the Como Shops, 1892. Photograph by Robert Murray Frame III.

Como Shops

The Como Shops, 1892. Photograph by Robert Murray Frame III.

Engraving of the Como Shops published in Northwest magazine (April 1886, page 12).

Engraving of the Como Shops

Engraving of the Como Shops published in Northwest magazine (April 1886, page 12).

Northern Pacific Railway Como Shops

St. Paul’s Como Shops served as a major passenger-car repair facility on the Northern Pacific railroad between 1885 and the 1970s, providing employment to many St. Paul residents. The durability of the shops’ construction guaranteed their longevity, and in 1985 the facility was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.

Black and white photograph of Northern Pacific Railway engineers in front of completed concrete archway. View to southwest, fall 1906.

Northern Pacific Railway engineers in front of completed concrete archway

Northern Pacific Railway engineers in front of completed concrete archway. View to southwest, fall 1906. Photographed by S. P. Wange, Hawley, MN.

Black and white photograph of the Stockwood Fill trestle under construction. View to west, fall 1906.

Stockwood Fill trestle under construction

Stockwood Fill trestle under construction. View to west, fall 1906. Photograph by S. P. Wange, Hawley, MN.

Black and white photograph of driving piles for the Stockwood Fill, spring 1906.

Driving piles for the Stockwood Fill

Driving piles for the Stockwood Fill, spring 1906. View to northeast. Photographed by S. P. Wange, Hawley, MN.

Cross-section of Stockwood Fill, showing rate of settlement between August 7 and 13, 1907.

Cross-section of Stockwood Fill

Cross-section of Stockwood Fill, showing rate of settlement between August 7 and 13, 1907.

Black and white photograph of a compressional ridge near archway, 1909.

Compressional ridge near archway

Compressional ridge near archway. Archway (still unburied) barely visible at right-center of photo below "hump" in tracks. Note that trestle to either side of archway has been filled, with the filling accompanied by sagging and associated compression. View to west, about June 1909. Photographed by A. F. Rusten, Hawley, MN.

Black and white photograph of the Northern Pacific Railway’s collapsed concrete archway, 1909.

Northern Pacific Railway’s collapsed concrete archway

Highway 9 underpass, view to northwest, fall 1909. Photographed by A. F. Rusten, Hawley, MN.

Construction of the Stockwood Fill, 1906–1909

Construction of the Stockwood Fill in Clay County between 1906 and 1909 taught Northern Pacific Railway engineers a bitter lesson about building big on northwestern Minnesota’s former-lake-bottom soil.

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