I woke up at the Hudson House Best Western and started working on the Mid-Continent Railway Museum Story. I had the free breakfast at the hotel restaurant where I had a waffle and sausage links. After I checked out I gassed up the rental car before I drove back into Minnesota taking Interstate 94 through the Twin Cities to Interstate 394 then south on Interstate 494 to Minnesota Highway 7 out to Excelsior. I followed the directions from their web site and found the tracks which the Excelsior Streetcar runs on. There was no information so I decided to walk the path along the tracks to see if I could find any information about when they run. When I got to the shop there was a phone number which I called and learned that they start running at 1:00 PM. I walked to the end of the line and decided to take you on a walking tour back to where I would board later on .
That was our walking tour of the Excelsior Streetcar Line. With over two hours to kill, I drove looking to find a place to park by the lake but when I couldn't I drove back but found a place to park in the shade in view of the lake. I took out my computer and named all the pictures for the Mid-Continent Railway Museum Story. I then did all the pages and then got on-line {thanks Excelsior} and uploaded all of the pictures for that story and checked my E-mail. At 12:30 PM I drove back over to the boarding area and waited.
I liked the flowers and sat on the bench as I waited for the Streetcar to show up.
I walked down and waited for the streetcar to show up. A few minutes later I saw the streetcar came around the corner into view.
Streetcar 1239 came by my photo location. I walked back to the boarding area.
Streetcar 1239 was built at the 31st Street Shop in Minneapolis in 1907.
The crew put up a sign.
They put out their Trolley Ride Sign.
The crew and their sign.
The inside of Streetcar 1239. We waited for some other passengers before we started our trip.
The streetcar comes to the grade crossing and came to a stop before we proceeded through.
Our streetcar comes to the first of the two bridges that we will pass under.
The streetcar approaches the shop where we would be stopping for a tour.
The passengers all get off the streetcar.
The steps have holes so passengers could walk aboard and the snow would come off the soles of their shoes.
The pole rope holder on the front of the streetcar.
We ventured into the shop and here is their track speeder.
Streetcar 78 was operated by the Duluth Street Railway Company from 1893 until 1911. Built by the Laclede Car Company and was one of the first generation of electric streetcars that replaced horse and mule drawn cars of the 1880's.
The car to the right of the 78 is a Missabi Interurban Car that once ran in the Iron Range.
The line car used to work on the wires on this streetcar line.
Display Boards
Our operator discusses the streetcar operations in the Excelsior area.
Here he shows the car from Duluth.
The other display board.
Streetcar 28 is under major restoration.
We all exited the shop building and reboarded Streetcar 1239.
The old bridge that used to be here used to have streetcars running on it.
The streetcar is approaching the end of the line.
We stopped at the end of the line for a few minutes before running back to where we started.
A view on the trip back.
The operator running the streetcar. I enjoyed the trip back and thanked the crew for a great trip.
One last view before I drove to Plymouth and checked into the Best Western Plymouth Inn for the night. I worked on stories and washed my clothes. I had a steak for dinner in the restaurant here then Dennis Larsen stopped by for a visit. I called it a night after a very restful day.
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