A question came up about the Minnesota Transfer Railroad, which would make an interesting Twin Cities prototype to model. I have done a little research on this one (for a layout that didn’t get built) and wanted to share some of the things I learned, so others can use it.
The MTRY was, as the name implies, a an transfer/terminal type of railroad, jointly owned by a bunch of railroads that ran to the twin cities.
Here is a 1947 map from the Soo line (linked from the Minnesota Railroad Research Project web page) showing some of the railroads that ran into the Twin Cities. The MTRY is the purple line running north from the center of the map up past New Brighton.
I a while back did some research considering an MTRY based layout in the early 1960s. This is some of the things I learned:
The MTRY was an all-Alco railway during the period I am modelling:- 5 Alco S1 (road numbers 60-64)
2 Alco S2 (road numbers 93-94)
6 Alco S4 (road numbers 100-105)
2 Alco RS3 (road numbers 200-201)
They were still using cabooses outside the yard area in the early 1960s - cabooses were discontinued in 1969 (with conductors riding in the cab of the train from 1969 onwards).
Some of the engines user by connecting railroads in 1963
A very comprehensive overview of Minnesota Transfer Railway.
If anyone from Kalmbach is listening, Minnesota Transfer would make a great prototype-to-layout story in the spirit of the “Classic Railroads You Can Model” and “More Railroads You Can Model” for the next generation of new material. Why not a special book, or How to Build Realistic Bridgeline Railroads special issue with a half dozen well-detailed prototypes like Minnesota Transfer?
In fact, what potential for expanded spin-off articles further describing interaction (and layout planning) in sub-chapters about interchanges, junctions, staging, let alone modeling rolling stock with so many r.r names.
A similar kind of bridgeline story, a well-implemented survival perspective, is the now rock-solid Reading Railroad successor: “Reading & Northern” (map). Industries include anthracite coal, and Yuengling (USA’s oldest brewery), and even a steam/diesel passenger excursion division.
Frank Donovan also wrote a very good book in the early fifties on the Minneapolis & St.Louis, which became part of the CNW system in 1960. I’m happy to say I have both books. (BTW the Omaha was part of the CNW for decades before it “officially” merged with CNW. For many years the only difference was the initials on the engine’s cab - C St.P M & O instead of C&NW. Otherwise they were identical from about 1920 on.)
One difficulty in modelling the MN Transfer is what they did was basically take a cut of 50 cars from yard A a couple miles away to yard B and bring a similar cut back. They did some on-line servicing of industries but were primarily a transfer RR. That being said, with staging reprensenting yards off the layout, you could do it I guess.
A bonus with MN Commercial now is the Midway Amtrak depot is on their line (just a few blocks from the MCCR roundhouse and small turntable) so someone modelling that area could include the Empire Builder along with their freight traffic.
Steinjr - As usual, sir, you just may be THE FOUNTAIN of knowledge as regards MN Transfer Ry/MN Commercial Ry. I grew up near Cleveland Ave. and Summit Ave. and I used to ride my bike over to the MN Transfer Ry.roundhouse (and Lake Nokomis, too, when Mom wasn’t paying attention) so I know the area really well. Mn Transfer/MN Commercial Ry, I remember them delivering tank cars of Kaolin Clay for the paper printing business for Waldorf, now ROCK-TENN Bldg.
For modelling the early sixties, if you fudged a few miles east to include the huge Koppers Coke plant in St.Paul (near No.10 on the map, Como Shops of the NP - now “Bandana Square” shopping center) you could include their 0-6-0 steam engines, which ran until I think 1964. I think a Proto USRA 0-6-0 would do the job, might need to change some detailing…I think their engines were ex-Soo engines.
Btw, I got a PM from another poster that was considering basing a layout on the MTRY, and did a little research between getting up and heading out for my train to work this morning.
Here is a recap of what I wrote in my reply to the other poster - if anyone has information to add, feel free to jump in.
[quote user=“steinjr”]
Speaking of Minnesota Transfer - I did a couple of photo expeditions on foot and some bing’ing (http://www.bing.com/maps) along parts of the lines to look for inspiration for a model railroad, and I followed David Zuhn’s excellent virtual map tour.
Problem was that even though the Minnesota Transfer had an enormously cool traffic flow at the Midway yard in the 1940s and 1950s, with all the interchange traffic between the class 1s, modeling that traffic flow just did not translate very well at all into the space available to me (6.5 x 11.5 feet), and certainly not H0 scale, which was what I wanted.
It would take a fairly big yard, lots of longish trains, and lots of staging to simulate in an interesting way classification and routing at the Midway Yard. Possibly could have been done in a reasonable way in Z scale (1:220) in the space I had available, if I had been hardheaded enough to axe all industry switching (or just simulating a little industy switching around the yard), but I suspect that even then it would have been a pretty hard sell in 6.5 x 11.5 feet.
Coupled with the fact that I really wanted some local switching, and I wasn’t hard headed enough back then to axe either the yard or the local switching - I wanted both, and H0 scale on top of that.
There is also plenty of information available on the net (at David’s web site, Bing and from my pictures) to make a modern switching layout based e.g. on the industries along MN-280 - say from the BNSF (ex NP) junctio
I wonder if our friends at Atlas might do some Alco’s in MN Transfer Ry. lettering someday?? They’re doing a Minnesota Commercial engine now, the RR that took over from MT Ry. so it shouldn’t be that far-fetched…heck, they’ve done some pretty small railroads in the past.
There is a lot of things that make the MInn Commercial a neat railroad for those of us with a modern bent. The MIlls on hiawatha Ave could keep a small operating railroad interesting for a long time. Alas, they were serviced by the Milwaukee during the time of the Transfer. The warehouses that sit above university ave still have much of the Transfer trackage in and are capable of servicing them, and many were used for car storage. Along the south side of Midway yard there is a substantial amount of older rolling stock, some dating back to the steam era. Rock Tenn is still receiving, although mainly boxcars of recycle stock I am modelling the modern twin cities and, after a relocation for a new job working toward the basement to fill with the BNSF mainlines and pieces of both yard.In the meantime I plan on building either the MN 280 segment or the Hiawatha Ave segment and a bit of Midway in my apartment spare bedroom. The Atlas alcos and GE’s just make it easier. We don’t exchange/transfer with as many railroads as back then, but it’s just as cool and as busy.
Yup!, Still GOOD stuff to model on Hiawatha Ave. Grain traffic rules!. Gotta love the intersection at 46th and Hiawatha as well as light rail on the other side of the street!.
