St. Paul's Union Depot names train viewing spot

A new picnic area overlooking the St. Paul, Minn., Lowertown train tracks and the Division Street wye track has been named the "Rail View Picnic Area," Union Depot officials announced yesterday.

The landscaped area enables visitors to watch Amtrak Empire Builder passenger trains and freight trains arrive and depart. The Mississippi River also can be viewed from the area. The name was voted on by the general public through a Facebook campaign and in person at the May 10 National Train Day event at the station.

The Division Street wye is part of a dense, rail-rich area that registers up to 10,000 freight cars, or 5 percent of the nation's freight volume, each day. The site is open to the public from sunrise to sunset and is adjacent to the location of the bike trail that will open in late 2015, following completion of the Lafayette bridge construction, Union Depot officials said in a press release.