Draft: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) |
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
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 companies 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.