Anyone from the St. Paul/Twin Cities area?

[jbilbrey]

All,

I going soon be visiting the Twin Cities area.  As with most of us on this forum, one of my favorite things to do is visit local railroad museums and hobby shops.  I am not going have too much down time (mostly in the afternoons and a Sunday), but couple sites have caught my interest.  Just one problem; I probably will not have access to a car, so I am a bit limited to where I can go. 

First, I will be staying in Downtown St. Paul and see that the MN Transportation Museum's Jackson Street Roundhouse is nearby.  While it is within walking distance of my hotel (roughly 1.5 miles), is the neighborhood near Regions Hospital and along Jackson Street safe to walk through, or would I be better off getting a taxi?

Second, there is a hobby shop that is just off one of the trolley routes [Scale Model Supplies].  While the photos show a good selection of older P2K locomotives, etc., is it worth the trolley ride out to it and back?

Thanks for any help and suggestions you can give this Southerner.

James Bilbrey
LaVergne, TN

[jbilbrey]

Okay, here is a quick reply to my own question.

I was able to go out Scale Model Supplies. It was about a 15-ride out to the Store via St. Paul's LRT "Green Line". The Google reviews were for the most part correct; the store had a good selection of new and not-so-new items, has so-so prices, but isn't located in the best part of town. I walked out with couple recent-production InterMountain boxcars and a host of detail parts.

A local advised me NOT to walk up Jackson Street to the MN Transportation Museum. It didn't really matter as I was going up there on my day off, but we wrapped up the work and flew home early without getting the day off. I also did not get a chance to visit the railfan park near the City's Union Depot. On the flip side, I did catch one UP freight (with two SD40-2's leading!) crossing the Robert Street Lift Bridge Downtown one afternoon.

James Bilbrey
LaVergne, TN

[tdspeedracer]

Sorry, I didn't see this the first go round.

You hit the hobby shop with the largest selection of parts. As for the neighborhood, no thanks to the power doors on my van, I parked there with the side door open and came back 30 minutes later and the GPS, and DVD players were still in it. I'm not sure what surprised me more, the open door or nothing missing.

As for the railfan park, I haven't heard any one say anything really nice about it. One of the biggest gripes I hear is being downtown, you inevitably have to pay to park. I typically end up in Newport, or at University.