Twin City trolleys

Minneapolis/St. Paul once had a sprawling streetcar system akin to what you could find in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Melbourne ("tram" in Aussie parlance) and other big cities. Unfortunately in the 1950s, the system was dismantled with public transit switching 100 percent to bus. Why? In a word, greed. The managers of the Twin City Rapid Transit Company had won control in a 1949 proxy fight, and they wished to pay stockholders dividends as opposed to plowing back profits into the system as per previous management practice.   The sale of assets resulting in the dismantling of the rails and wires around the Cities brought about short-term gain for long-term loss: Ridership on the TCRT went down to such a post-streetcar low TCRT had to be bailed out by the local government. TCRT became today's Metro Transit.

Not all of the streetcars vanished from the scene, however. TCRT donated two streetcars for preservation. One went to a trolley museum in Maine; the other went to a group called the Minnesota Railfans Association. A train buff group that, incidentally, chartered the last streetcars to traverse the system before service ended in 1954. The donated car's number was 1300. The MRA proved to be the nucleus of the Minnesota Transportation Museum, created specifically to restore 1300 to operation.  

After operating 1300 with a generator to shuttle riders around a local rail yard, the museum finally got a permanent place to operate when it re-built a two-mile long portion of TCRT track between Lakes Harriet and Calhoun in western Minneapolis.  These two lakes are part of the Mill City's fabled "Chain of Lakes" consisting of Lake of the Isles, Calhoun and Harriet. These lakes were popular destinations for visitors in the days of the trolley. They continued to be post-abandonment. A better operating location for a restored streetcar could not have been asked for!

The streetcars continue to roll there to this day. The stable at the Lake Harriet line now consists of TCRT 1300, Duluth Street Railways 265 (both wooden streetcars) and streamlined, stainless-steel PCC streetcar 322. MTM no longer operates the line, however, thanks to a restructuring of the museum in 2004-2005. The Minnesota Streetcar Museum now operates the historic route.

You board at the Linden Hills depot nestled just off of 42nd street within easy walking distance of Lake Harriet. Riders are treated to a tour of the car barn located on the southern end of the line as part of the trip between the lakes. The ride is a trip into the past well-worth taking. Tokens to ride (purchased at the depot even if you board at Lake Calhoun) cost $2 for riders three years old and up. Be warned, however, parking is mostly on-street save for over by the Lake Harriet band shell (where parking fees are charged); this means parking on the weekends is strictly "first come, first served."        

Another former MTM streetcar line now run by the MSM is located west of the Chain of Lakes in the suburb of Excelsior, a town nestled on a lake equally famous and popular: Lake Minnetonka. Here a half-mile long streetcar line was built in 1998 along a portion of a former Minneapolis & St. Louis/Chicago & North Western corridor now turned into a rail trail.   Riders board here at the historic M&St.L Excelsior depot that is now home to the Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society museum.

The historic streetcars that are operated here are Duluth Street Railways 78 (a single truck wooden streetcar vintage 1893!) and TCRT 1239 (a wooden streetcar similar to TCRT 1300 and DSR 265); another car, Winona Street Railways number 10, is being restored to operation in the magnificent car barn located at the mid-point of the ESL.   A tour of which is a part of the ride too, just like at Lake Harriet. Fares are the same here as well.

Day passes costing $5 can be bought at both streetcar venues. You can buy a ticket worth 10 rides for $17, a ticket worth 25 rides for $43 and a seasonal pass for $49.  

The volunteers aboard the streetcars are friendly and informative about the history of Twin City trolleys, and trolleys as a whole. The MSM is also a super kid-friendly experience that I have seen many enjoy as they took a ride into the past. For more information, visit the website of the Minnesota Streetcar Museum.

Photos of DSR 78 passing under Mill Street in Excelsior and TCRT 1300 rounding the curve by the archery range at Lake Calhoun by Richard H.