Draft:St. Paul Southern Electric Railway

St. Paul Southern Electric Railway

Overview
Headquarters	Hastings, Minnesota
Locale	Minnesota
Dates of operation	1914–1928
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	600 V DC
Length	25 miles (40 km)
Operating speed	18 mph (29 km/h) average

The St. Paul Southern Electric Railway is a defunct railroad that operated between Saint Paul, Minnesota and Hastings, Minnesota. It is distinct for being one of the least successful electric interurbans in the country.

History

Context

The St. Paul Southern Electric Railway Company was created April 5, 1913. But for two years prior the Interurban Construction Company had been promoting and acquiring franchises for an electric interurban between St. Paul and Rochester, Minnesota. The goal of promoters what to create a direct rail connection between the home of the Mayo Clinic and the state capitol, an idea still pursued today by proposals such as Zip Rail.

In the early 1910s the fastest train between St. Paul and Rochester was on the Chicago Great Western's "Minneapolis and Osage" line. That train was routed 117 miles from St. Paul through Randolph and Red Wing. The fastest train made the journey to Rochester in four hours and 45 minutes, an average speed of 25 mph (40 km/h).

The goal is the Southern was to construct a shorter line that bypassed Red Wing, instead going through Cannon Falls. Other railroads had surveyed this area with the same goal of a more direct Rochester connection, however grades were too steep in the for steam locomotives. But with electric traction, the Southern would be able to traverse the hilly topography.

Beginnings

Passenger operations between Inver Grove and Hastings started on November 17, 1914. But due to trackage disputes with the Twin City Rapid Transit, passengers were required to transfer onto TCRT's "South St. Paul-Inver Grove" line to complete the journey into St. Paul. On April 25, 1915 the Minnesota Legislature passed a law giving municipalities the power to require streetcar companies to give trackage rights to other street railways. With this law, TCRT was forced to enter into a contract with the St. Paul Southern for trackage rights into downtown St. Paul, and through running finally began on August 22, 1915.

Route

The Southern operated on 18 miles of its own track and seven miles of Twin City Rapid Transit Company track, operating along side it's "South St. Paul-Inver Grove" line. Starting in downtown St. Paul, the line circulated on downtown streetcar loop before leaving downtown via Robert Street, then turning south on Concord Street. On Concord Street the line travelled through the rest of St. Paul and South St. Paul before switching onto the company's own tracks at the border of South St. Paul and Inver Grove at Linden Street. In Inver Grove the line continued to parallel Concord on it's own right-of-way on the east side of the street. South of 66th Street the line began running just to the west of the CGW tracks. Further south, the line broke west to run parallel to Inver Grove Trail, proceeded under the CGW tracks, and continued south roughly alongside the path of today's Highway 55 through Pine Bend and rural Rosemount. The line then travelled northeast along today's Mississippi River Trail before soon heading due east at Spring Lake Cemetery. Traveling through open country the line eventually entered Hastings on 5th Street West, turned north on today's Highway 61, and east on 2nd Street East before wying out at Tyler Street.