The Minnesota Transfer Railway was a

short line railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. It was incorporated on March 22, 1883. It was owned by nine major railroads serving the Twin Cities: #

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

Chicago Great Western Railway The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnes ...

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experienced ...

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway or ''Omaha Road'' was a railroad in the U.S. states of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota. It was incorporated in 1880 as a consolidation of the Chicago, St. Paul and ...

# Great Northern Railway #

Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway The Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway (M&StL) was an American Class I railroad that built and operated lines radiating south and west from Minneapolis, Minnesota for 90 years from 1870 to 1960. The railway never reached St. Louis (despite its ...

# Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway #

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, w ...

It consisted of a junction from Merriam Park from the Milwaukee road, to the Great Northern Railway, where it ran along until it cut north to cross the Northern Pacific tracks. It went north to New Brighton to the Stockyards. The Minnesota Transfer Railway acquired the Minnesota Belt Line Railway in 1898. The belt line ran 14 miles from the Northern Pacific and Great Northern tracks in Fridley, called Belt Line Junction, to the Minneapolis stock yards in New Brighton. The railroad provided transfer and terminal services to these railroads, as well as serving local industrial customers. It served to funnel up to 3,500 cars a day through the St. Paul freight yards as well as originating and delivering up to 400 carloads of freight from industries located on its lines.Donovan, Frank P. "Gateway to the Northwest: The Story of The Minnesota Transfer Railway" (Self-published, 1954). The book is scarce but sometimes available on Amazon or from other used book sources. The Midway yard which is part of it has 7 parts: • C yard - 27 tracks, westbound arrival tracks • J yard - 13 tracks, cars bound for local industries on the MTRY • P yard - 29 tracks, eastbound arrival, departure & classification tracks • A yard - 42 tracks, westbound classification & departure tracks • B yard - 8 tracks, arrival/departure tracks • F yard - storage tracks • R yard - RIP tracks MTFR 200, an

Alco The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locom ...

RS-3, is preserved in operating condition at the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview Histo ...

. MTFR 62, one of five

S-1 on the MTFR, is preserved in stored condition at the Hub City Heritage Museu

in Oelwein, Iowa. Through a series of mergers over the years, by the 1960s it was owned by Great Northern, Northern Pacific, the Burlington Route, the Rock Island, the Milwaukee Road, the Soo Line Railroad, and the

Chicago & Northwestern Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

. The former three merged in 1970 as the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

. The MTR was acquired by the

Minnesota Commercial Railway The Minnesota Commercial Railway is a short line railroad in the United States. This railroad operates out of the St. Paul area with service to Minneapolis, Bayport, Hugo, Fridley and New Brighton. It is considered a switching and terminal r ...

in 1987.

References

External links

MTFR's Diesel Roster

* ttp://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr2615.htm Pictures of three diesel locomotives {{DEFAULTSORT:Minnesota Transfer Railway Defunct Minnesota railroads Switching and terminal railroads 1883 establishments in Minnesota 1987 disestablishments in Minnesota