Finding Minnesota: Owatonna's Old Train Depot
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Long before there was light rail, buses or subways, trains pioneered the concept of mass transit.
The railroad system was vital to the development of the United States -- and one man in Owatonna does not want us to forget its place in history.
At 20 Southridge Place in Owatonna, an old depot stands out in the quiet suburban neighborhood.
It is not a destination hub, so trains do not travel pass through. Instead, it is Jerry Waldrop's attempt to preserve a time when trains worked their way into the fabric of a growing country.
"I like it," Waldrop said. "There's a lot of history involved with the trains."
Waldrop's depot is full of a forgotten past. He fills the inside with the antiques and artifacts of the first mass transit system.
Among the items in his collection are three working locomotive horns that still sound occasionally. He also has tools used to build the railroad, fine china, train tickets, lanterns, a coal burning stove and much more.
"I don't buy anything that's not real," Waldrop said.
His desire for authenticity even worked its way into the actual building.
"There's a lot of history, and we didn't want that lost," said Waldrop's daughter, Michelle Waldrop-Tarka.
She remembers the day 24 years ago when her dad hatched a plan to save a decrepit train station just a few miles from his home.
"I thought he was crazy, there's no way," Waldrop-Tarka said.
Sitting empty since the 1970s, Jerry worried the depot's 100-year history would be lost in demolition.
For him, there was only one solution.
"I spent my first summer here, every weekend Friday night to Sunday night, late," she said.
With a friend's help, the father and daughter duo dismantled the building piece by piece, only to rebuild it on his driveway.
"I was retired then and I had plenty of time," he said.
The depot project took a year to tear down and rebuild, but Waldrop's passion is lifelong.
Step inside his home and you will see a collection that fills the bottom level of his house.
"It's a little bit out of control," Waldrop said.
Toys share shelves with railway memorabilia, and a model train collection grows with each new engine.
Waldrop has made a hobby of building and repairing tiny, real-world replicas. But if you ask the 75-year-old, the work is never done.
Rooted in his love of trains is a deeper purpose to preserve a point in time.
"It's only a piece, but it's the most I could do," Waldrop said.
He says you can stop by and check out the depot at any time in Owatonna. He bought the building for just $1 in 1992.
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