Minnesota Streetcar Museum
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| Established | 2005 (Parent in 1962) |
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| Location | Twin Cities, Minnesota |
| Coordinates | 44°55′29″N 93°18′41″W / 44.92472°N 93.31139°WCoordinates: 44°55′29″N 93°18′41″W / 44.92472°N 93.31139°W |
| Type | Heritage Streetcar Operator |
| Website | http://www.trolleyride.org |
| Excelsior Streetcar Line | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Type | Heritage streetcar |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1999 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Minimum radius | (?) |
| Electrification | (?) |
The Minnesota Streetcar Museum (MSM) is a transport museum that operates two heritage streetcar lines in Minneapolis, Minnesota and the western suburb of Excelsior.
The Museum was created as a result of the restructuring of the Minnesota Transportation Museum (MTM) during the winter of 2004-2005. The MTM was founded in 1962 to restore a streetcar, Twin City Rapid Transit Company No. 1300, that had been operated by the TCRT until the last streetcar lines were abandoned in favor of buses in 1954. Over time, the Museum diversified to include diesel and steam-powered trains, buses, steamboats and associated buildings, papers and photographs.
When the MTM was restructured during the winter of 2004 and 2005, the Minnesota Streetcar Museum was created and assumed ownership and operating responsibilities of the two streetcar lines. The Museum of Lake Minnetonka was also created as a result of the split and assumed ownership and operating responsibilities of the restored Steamboat Minnehaha, which was built by TCRT in 1906.
The Minnesota Streetcar Museum now has five operable streetcars, three from TCRT's fleet and two from the Duluth Street Railway Company. A streetcar from Winona, Minnesota is currently under restoration while a Fargo-Moorhead Birney streetcar and a Mesaba Railway inter-urban car await restoration.
In 1971 the MTM began operations on the Como-Harriet Streetcar Line, a heritage streetcar line in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The mile-plus-long Line runs along the original TCRT streetcar right-of-way between Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun and is open to the public. Three restored streetcars formally used by TCRT are used and the Museum has built a replica 1900 station at the intersection of Queen Ave and 42nd Street.
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