As part of its "Rail: Past, Present, Future," series, the Chaska Herald published a May 28, 2009 story about the Wigfield brothers' experience growing up at the Carver Depot, where their father, Vern Wigfield, was the Minneapolis and St. Louis station agent.

In this video, they describe their experiences with hobos at the depot, and the "language" of Morse code.

By Mark W. Olson

When his four boys were young, Vern Wigfield told them, “I can’t send you to college. I don’t have the money for that. But I can teach you a profession.”

And that he did. As station agent at the Carver depot, Wigfield possessed several skills he could pass on to his sons, namely his knowledge of telegraphy. By the time his four boys flew the nest, they were prepared for a railroad job.

The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota recently named Athletic Park as one of the top 10 endangered historic places in the state. You can read more about it here.

For more than 130 years, railroads have played an integral role in our region’s transportation network.

For the bulk of those years, rail was viewed as a primary mode of transportation. Movement of agricultural goods from western Minnesota relied on rail. Commuters rode the trains east into the big city to shop, or westward to visit popular lake vacation spots.

In recent years, however, many of the rail lines in the southwest suburbs have been abandoned and now serve as popular bike and walking trails.

While the number of railroads serving the region has dwindled in recent decades, the lone surviving railroad company serving Carver County and the surrounding area has seen an uptick in demand in recent years.

The number of carloads running on the Twin Cities & Western rail line nearly doubled from 2003 to 2008, according to Robert Henry, vice president of marketing and sales.

It was the end of April and construction workers at the Carver County Government Center who were busy installing a new water line under the west parking lot found something they weren’t expecting to find at all.

There, buried a good six inches underneath where the pipe was to be laid, workers unearthed a section of long-forgotten rail line.

The following obituary is from the May 28, 2009 print edition of the Chaska Herald newspaper:

Abigail Bertha Cordelia Raddatz, 67, formerly of Carver and Chaska, died March 9, 2009 in New York.

There will be a memorial service Saturday, June 6, at 2 p.m. at the Kolden Funeral Home with burial in Oakwood Cemetery in Belle Plaine.

Chaska VFW Post 1791 will host the flag retirement ceremonies at 6:30 p.m., June 4, according to Ken Neukircher, VFW Post commander.

Waconia AMVETS (American Veterans) will do the flag disposal. The public is invited to see this ceremony, which is held inn the park across from post, at 620 Creek Road

If you have a flag that is faded, worn, torn or fared, you may drop it off at the VFW. If you need a new one, the post has flags that the public may purchase.

By Chuck Friedbauer

Concern over the proposed class size increase has surfaced in the local community. Parents, teachers and students are asking District 112 officials to find options to avoid the increases.

Anita Althaus, mother of three, said one reason they moved to this area was for the cutting edge school district.

“I’ve seen the class size increase and think the district is losing that advantage and becoming average,” she said.