Twin Cities by Trolley

Twin Cities by Trolley
Author: John W. Diers
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
Total Pages: 365
Release:
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1452912955

The recent development of light rail transit in the Twin Cities has been an undeniable success. Plans for additional lines progress, and our ways of shopping, dining, and commuting are changing dramatically. As we embrace riding the new Hiawatha light rail line, an older era comes to mind—the age when everyone rode the more than 500 miles of track that crisscrossed the Twin Cities. In Twin Cities by Trolley, John Diers and Aaron Isaacs offer a rolling snapshot of Minneapolis and St. Paul from the 1880s to the 1950s, when the streetcar system shaped the growth and character of the entire metropolitan area. More than 400 photographs and 70 maps let the reader follow the tracks from Stillwater to University Avenue to Lake Minnetonka, through Uptown to downtown Minneapolis. The illustrations show nearly every neighborhood in Minneapolis and St. Paul as it was during the streetcar era. At its peak in the 1920s and early 1930s, the Twin City Rapid Transit Company (TCRT) operated over 900 streetcars, owned 523 miles of track, and carried more than 200 million passengers annually. Recounting the rise and fall of the TCRT, Twin Cities by Trolley explores the history, organization, and operations of the streetcar system, including life as a streetcar operator and the technology, design, and construction of the cars. Inspiring fond memories for anyone who grew up in the Twin Cities, Twin Cities by Trolley leads readers on a fascinating and enlightening tour of this bygone era in the neighborhood and the city they call home. John W. Diers has worked in the transit industry for thirty-five years, including twenty-five years at the Twin Cities Metropolitan Transit Commission. He has written for Trains, and has served on the board of the Minnesota Transportation Museum. Aaron Isaacs worked with Metro Transit for thirty-three years. He is the author of Twin City Lines—The 1940s and The Como-Harriet Streetcar Line. He is also the editor of Railway Museum Quarterly.

Subterranean Twin Cities

Subterranean Twin Cities
Author: Greg A. Brick
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
Total Pages: 247
Release:
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 145291432X

In Subterranean Twin Cities, geologist, historian, and urban speleologist Greg Brick takes us on an adventurous, educational, and-thankfully-sanitary journey beneath the streets and into the myriad tunnels, caves, and industrial spaces that make up the Twin Cities' fascinating and surprisingly vast underground landscape. In this groundbreaking tour, the first of its kind of the Twin Cities, Brick mines the stories that lie below the city surface.

AIA Guide to the Twin Cities

AIA Guide to the Twin Cities
Author: Larry Millett
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society
Total Pages: 694
Release: 2007
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780873515405

Get ready to discover the great architectural mecca that is Minneapolis and St. Paul. The first comprehensive, illustrated handbook of its kind, AIA Guide to the Twin Cities is the ultimate source to the architectural riches of the metropolitan area. Organized by neighborhood and featuring a wealth of sites--from the highest point on the Minneapolis skyline to the modest St. Paul bungalow vibrant with historical and architectural significance--this invaluable reference has it all: -Illuminating entries for more than 3,000 buildings -Behind-the-scenes details of the structures and their architects -Lively information about local history and regional styles -Highlights of important buildings nearly lost in time -Sixty easy-to-read maps that pinpoint the location of every structure -Dozens of planned walking and driving tours -Over 1,000 photos that illustrate significant buildings and features Retired Pioneer Press architecture critic Larry Millett has spent more than two decades researching and exploring the architectural heritage of the Twin Cities. Millett's AIA Guide to the Twin Cities is your ticket to the best tour in town. Sponsored in part by the American Institute of Architects Minnesota. Larry Millett has written extensively about Twin Cities architecture. His books include Lost Twin Cities, Twin Cities Then and Now, and Strange Days, Dangerous Nights (all MHS Press), as well as a series of mystery novels featuring Sherlock Holmes.

Excelsior Amusement Park: Playland of the Twin Cities

Excelsior Amusement Park: Playland of the Twin Cities
Author: Greg Van Gompel
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2017
Genre: History
ISBN: 1467137936

Minneapolis roared into the 1920s as a major metropolis, but it lacked the kind of outdoor amusement facilities common elsewhere across the country. In 1925, Fred W. Pearce introduced the Twin Cities to his "Picnic Wonderland." Crowds eagerly poured onto the shores of Lake Minnetonka by the trolley load. Luckily, Excelsior Park survived the Great Depression and World War II on the strength of its celebrity acts. Changes in the forms of transportation, combined with innovations in the outdoor entertainment industry such as Disneyland and an aging infrastructure, eventually forced the park to close its gates.

South Shore

South Shore
Author: William D. Middleton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 192
Release: 1999
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9780253335333

Here is the new, expanded edition of William D. Middleton's much-admired book on the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad. In more than 250 photographs, maps, and schematic drawings, the rising and sinking fortunes of this technological triumph are chronicled from the first decade of the 20th century to the present day. Using the same technology that produced the electric street railway, the interurbans helped bridge the gap between the horse-and-buggy era in rural America to the modern age of paved highways and family automobiles. The Chicago South Shore Line is unique among the nearly 10,000 lines operating at the end of World War I, not because it didn't suffer the same triumphs and tragedies, but because it is the only one to have survived. It still provides electric transportation over precisely the same route it has served since the first decade of the 20th century. South Shore: The Last Interurban is essential reading for all those interested in rapid transit, railroads, railroad history, and the impact of America's last interurban.

Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened

Like Nothing Amazing Ever Happened
Author: Emily Blejwas
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2020
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1984848488

In small-town Wicapi, Minnesota, in 1991, twelve-year-old Justin struggles to pick up the pieces of his life after the unexpected death of his father.

St. Paul Union Depot

St. Paul Union Depot
Author: John W. Diers
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780816656103

St. Paul Union Depot brings to life the sights and sounds and the behind-the-scenes inner workings of what was the most important rail passenger station west of Chicago. It is also about the people--the stationmasters, mail handlers, train directors, engineers, and others who were employed there, as well as the millions of passengers who passed through its doors.

Until They Bring the Streetcars Back

Until They Bring the Streetcars Back
Author: Stanley Gordon West
Publisher: Lexington Marshall Publishing, LLC
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1997
Genre: Child abuse
ISBN: 9780965624763

Cal Gant becomes involved in violence and murder when he is drawn toward the mysterious Gretchen Luttermann and finds himself in a struggle with her brutal father that takes him down a terrifying path.

Twin Ports by Trolley

Twin Ports by Trolley
Author: Aaron Isaacs
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780816673087

Along the way we meet motormen and conductors (including twenty-one women who stepped in during World War I) and learn what its like to run a streetcar through obstacles ranging from heavy snowstorms to Halloween pranks to the heroism of evacuating a burning neighborhood. Then we ride the rails in a typical car, with a floor of varnished wood and seats of cushioned rattan, and a not-so-typical luxury car, outfitted to the nines with velvet curtains and a bar for lucrative ?streetcar parties.? We experience the ride, whether buying a token or braving the smokers on the rear platform when boarding, and we learn the routes as the streetcars deliver, along with passengers, mail pouches and newspapers, dogs, and, in the case of the Park Point funeral car, corpses and mourners. Isaacs traces traffic patterns and geographic features for each line and describes imaginary trips on three of the most interesting routes.