I had a hearing (meeting of creditors) in St. Cloud this past Thursday. I go there fairly regularly, because that’s where the initial bankruptcy hearings are for residents of Wright County – and quite a few of my clients are from Wright County. I’m really not that far from the Wright County border. Particularly since the most recent straightening of Highway 12, getting here from places like Delano, Montrose and Waverly isn’t that hard.
That hearing was fairly early in the morning, and I got to look at the fall colors along I-94 in the early morning sun. I think the low angle of the sun in back of me as I headed northwest contributed to the drama. If those colors weren’t at their peak, it had to be about as close as I’ll ever see. Every time I came around a curve to a fresh view of reds and oranges, I was thankful that I had an excuse to be making that drive.
The hearings in St. Cloud are at the Red Cross Building on St. Germain St. It does not at all look like a court house. In fact I would say it’s a strange place to be having hearings like that. I had my camera in the car and I was thinking of taking some pictures of the place for my web site. By the time I was done with the hearing, however, I had forgotten about taking pictures. I was concentrating on the case to the point that I didn’t remember anything about the picture idea until I was half way back.
The drive southeast from St. Cloud allows one to contemplate the railroad which runs parallel to the freeway. Burlington Northern Santa Fe I think. Until a few years ago there were the remnants of some sort of railroad-related telephone or telegraph lines along that railroad. Every now and then as one drove along an old pole could be seen in the trees or bushes along the railroad with a few wires draped over it and hanging to the ground. Those seem to have all been removed now, because I don’t see them anymore. One time I spent a few minutes on Google trying to see if anyone had posted anything about the history of those old poles and wires, but I found nothing.
As a kid I remember that all railroads had lots of telegraph or telephone wires running alongside. It was explained to me, I no longer remember by who, that those were private railroad communication lines so they could keep track of where the trains were and keep them from running into each other. Obviously they’ve found a better way to communicate and don’t need the wires anymore. I’m curious about it, but I can’t seem to find a write up on this topic anywhere. If anybody knows of a good place to look for such info, please let me know.
Well, that was a good ramble. More later.
