Did you know that Chaska had an exclusive brick train in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s? There were 5 to 10 brickyards running in Chaska during this time, each producing thousands of cream colored brick. Each brickyard usually had its own railroad spur, so brick could be loaded onto railroad cars right from where they were produced.

As these cars were filled, they were then pushed back onto the mainline railroad, where they were connected with cars from the other brickyards. After they were all linked together, the engine would pull them off to market. Generally, Minneapolis and St. Paul were the major brick consumers at that time.

I have been looking for years to find a good picture of a brick train. As far as I know, there was never a brick train picture taken at Chaska. I have found that when something was so common (like brick production in Chaska), people did not take pictures of it. If you ever see a picture of a brick train, let me know, I would love to see it.