Dan Patch Corridor
| Dan Patch Corridor | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview | |||
| Type | Commuter rail line | ||
| Termini | Minneapolis Northfield |
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| Operation | |||
| Character | Commuter rail | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 40 miles (64 km) | ||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||
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The Dan Patch Corridor is a proposed commuter rail line that would serve a region which runs from Minneapolis to Northfield, Minnesota. The corridor consists of the tracks on the former Minneapolis St. Paul Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company lines, which came to be known as the Dan Patch lines. It was proposed as a passenger rail line in 2000 after being identified as a "Tier One" corridor in the Minnesota Department of Transportation's 2000 Commuter Rail System Plan before being given a study ban during the 2002 Minnesota legislative session. It sat in relative silence until 2008, when bills were introduced in the Minnesota State Legislature to potentially revive discussion.
For more information on the MStPR&D and the MNS Ry., see the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway page.
The Dan Patch Corridor was the brainchild of entrepreneur Marion Willis Savage. Incorporated in 1907 as the Minneapolis St. Paul Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company (MStPR&D), the line began service in 1908 as a passenger line running south from Minneapolis. Savage marketed the line as the "Dan Patch Line," a connection from Minneapolis to his farm in Savage, Minnesota, where he housed his famous harness racing horse, Dan Patch. After realizing that his horse was not enough to draw people to his rail line, he began work on Antlers Park, an amusement park on Lake Marion which opened in 1910. The line then experienced steady ridership growth between 1911–1915, and revenue obtained from the park was used to extend the line south to Northfield.
Despite the early successes, the MStPR&D began encountering trouble in 1914 when it found itself unable to completely finance several expansion projects, including a southern expansion to Faribault, Minnesota, which ultimately failed. Faced with growing debt, the line began taking on more freight traffic to make payments. The line found itself even further in debt by 1916, when Marion Willis Savage and Dan Patch died within several days of each other. Antlers Park was sold in 1917 to an employee of the MStPR&D, and the rail lines were taken over in 1918 by the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway (MN&S).
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