Reporting mark MTFR Length 160,934 m | Dates of operation 1883–1987 Locale Minneapolis, Saint Paul | |
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Track gauge 4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Successor Minnesota Commercial Railway | ||
Minnesota transfer railway top 5 facts
The Minnesota Transfer Railway (reporting mark MTFR) was a short line railroad in the United States.
It was owned by nine major railroads serving the Twin Cities: the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, the Chicago Great Western Railway, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway, the Great Northern Railway, the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway, the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to which it provided transfer and terminal services, 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.
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 RS-3, is preserved in operating condition at the Illinois Railway Museum. MTFR 62, one of five Alco S-1 on the MTFR, is preserved in stored condition at the Hub City Heritage Museum [1] in Oelwein, Iowa.