Long City Lines (LCL) is a freelance interurban and street railway in the fictional city of Long City, Minnesota. The LCL system consists of multiple streetcar and bus lines serving the different neighborhoods of Long City and two interurban lines connecting a few outlying towns with Long City. Having a penchant for history, I am working to weave the story of the fictional Long City Lines and Long City into the history of the streetcar era and of Minnesota.
Long City
Long City began as a small settlement on the northwest side of Lake Shetek in Murray County, Minnesota. The headwaters of the Des Moines River, Lake Shetek and its surroundings have been inhabited by human populations beginning, first, with nomadic people who migrated with the bison and, second, with the people of the Great Oasis culture finding home on the lake's shores. The Dakota inhabited the area by the time European fur traders began traversing the area. As the population shifted during the 19th Century with increasing numbers of white settlers moving to the area, the town of Long was established on the northwest side of the Lake Shetek and the (friendly) rival town of Currie established on the southeast side of the lake.
In an increasingly industrializing United States following the Civil War, the problem of transportation across the vast territory became a prime concern. Although the fertile waters of Lake Shetek and the Des Moines River have long been an oasis for humans and other animal species, growth of any town or city depends on connections to "the outside world". Being located on a river was not enough for both Long and Currie, because the head of navigation of the Des Moines River was hundreds of miles to the southeast at Fort Des Moines in Iowa. With steamship navigation of the river unfeasible, and transportation by wagon subpar for further growth, attracting the railroads into the area was a necessity for the success of both towns.
The opportunity presented itself in 1872 when the Winona & Saint Peter railroad constructed its line through southwest Minnesota and into the Dakota Territory (now South Dakota). Leading citizens of Long worked to convince Winona & Saint Peter railroad to divert their main line from the planned course to now include Long on the route. The officials of the Winona & Saint Peter were persuaded, so Long finally found itself on the railroad network. The Winona & Saint Peter railroad would ultimately become the Chicago & North Western. Not to be left out of the railroad network, Currie began lobbying for a railroad connection, with Long joining in to the effort for mutual benefit. The Southern Minnesota railroad built through Currie and into Long in 1879. The Southern Minnesota railroad would become the Chicago, Milwaukee, Saint Paul, & Pacific railroad (the Milwaukee Road). Further railroad connections were made with the Burlington, Cedar Rapids, & Northern in 1885 (later to be part of the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific, otherwise known as the Rock Island) and the Minneapolis & Saint Louis in 1896.
The citizens of Long had big plans for their future, however, so more railroad connections were necessary to realize the grand future for their growing town, and they wanted to create their future instead of waiting for it to happen. Two railroads had built into Long by the beginning of the 1880s, but neither railroad was a direct line to a major population center. A direct connection to Minnesota's booming economic center of Minneapolis was deemed essential. After years of seeking financial backers, the Long & Minneapolis railroad finally gained the capital needed for its plans, so it constructed a direct railroad line to Minneapolis in 1884. In celebration of the direct connection to Minneapolis, the citizens of Long decided a slight name change for their town might help manifest their grand plans, so Long was renamed Long City. Furthering the spirit of the day, even grander plans were soon announced by the Long & Minneapolis railroad, as the railroad's name was soon changed to the Long City & Denver (LC&D). The LC&D completed the only direct railroad between Minnesota and Denver in 1889, centering Long City as the economic powerhouse of southwestern Minnesota.
Long City Street Railway
A growing city, Long City was a prime location for improved intercity transportation. Street railways were already in operation in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and many other towns in Minnesota, so not wanting to be left out of the urban transportation game, the Long Street Railway was founded in 1883 (renamed Long City Street Railway in 1884). The new railroad connection to Minneapolis provided the impetus for the creating of the Long Street Railway, and the first horse car line was in operation on Long Avenue by the arrival of the Long & Minneapolis (later Long City & Denver) railroad in 1884. By the time of the completion of the Long City & Denver in 1889, the system had expanded to 8 horse car lines, with plans to convert the lines to electric streetcars as soon as the capital became available.
Frank Sprague successfully demonstrated his experimental electric streetcar line in Richmond, Virginia in February 1888. Sprague's success launched the streetcar craze that revolutionized urban transportation in North America. In short order, street railways across the continent were either in the planning stages or had already begun conversion of their horse car and cable car lines to electric streetcars. Stillwater, Minnesota became the first city in Minnesota to have an electric streetcar line in June 1889, with Minneapolis following in December 1889, and Saint Paul in February 1890. Long City entered the era of electric streetcars in November 1890 with the conversion of the Otto line from horse cars. All lines were converted to electric streetcars by 1893, slower than preferred, due to production delays from the immense demand put on manufacturers of parts and electric streetcars as the streetcar craze swept the country.
The Long City Street Railway continually sought expansion opportunities, even as the system was in full conversion to electric propulsion. In 1890, The Minneapolis Street Railway and the Saint Paul City Railway connected their lines by establishing the "Interurban" line between downtown Minneapolis and downtown Saint Paul. Similar projects connecting towns and cities with electric railways were either in the planning stages or under construction in other parts of the U.S. as well, so the Long City Street Railway latched onto the idea. Currie, as the closest town to Long City and with a long historical relationship was the logical choice for an "interurban" line. With conversion of the streetcar system in Long City nearing completion in 1893, construction began on the Currie line late in the year. Excitement increased as the Long City Street Railway announced an ambitious deadline of New Year's Eve 1893. Construction took an earnest pace, but the line was completed hours before the deadline when the first electric streetcar hummed into Currie at sundown on December 31, 1893. A celebratory mood took over and citizens of both Currie and Long City braved the cold to ring in the new year about the streetcars.
Bishop Interurban
Bishop, situated in the gradual hills of the western edge of the Coteau des Prairies, is a small town a short distance across the line in Pipestone County, Minnesota. Home to Coteau College, Bishop is on the Great Northern railroad line connecting it, to the southwest, with the county seat of Pipestone and Sioux Falls, South Dakota beyond, and to the northeast, the junction with the Great Northern's transcontinental line in Willmar, Minnesota. Although connected with the its fellow communities along the railroad line, travel to Long City was always hindered by the rough, bumpy trip of 20 miles by road, or the inconvenient connection between the Great Northern and the Long City & Denver in Pipestone (schedules were not coordinated between the two railroads). Yearning for a change, the citizens of Bishop latched onto the idea of an electric "interurban" line following the successful completion of the Long City Street Railway line to Currie. Determined, the leaders of Bishop attempted to secure financing, but little was forthcoming given the long stretch between the town and city with little population in between.
The Long City Street Railway expressed interest in the Bishop line shortly after the idea sprang up, but was financially stretched from the conversion of the system to electric streetcars and the construction of the Currie line. In an age when the growth of streetcar and interurban lines often owed more to aspirations and hope than business savvy, the financially thrifty Long City Street Railway recognized the precarity of its position and kept the idea on the drawing board. The proposal continued to simmer into the turn of the 20th Century, when the Long City & Denver expressed interest in the project.
The Bishop line proposal had always concerned passenger transportation, but the Long City & Denver saw the potential of the line in generating freight. If towns could be established along the line, farmers and ranchers in the area between Long City and Bishop would have an easier way to ship products to market and to ship goods in. Shippers could be persuaded to route goods through Long City and, thus, onto the rails of the Long City & Denver. With the Bishop line proposal now revived as a passenger and freight line, and with the cooperation and assurance of the Long City & Denver, financial backing was much easier to obtain from financiers on the coasts.
Construction of the Bishop line began in 1905. Track laying began at the terminus of the Bowen Line, and the first portion of track constructed was actually the freight-only portion of the line to the south and then southeast to skirt around the edge of the city and link up with the main line of the Long City & Denver. Once complete, attention then turned westward to Bishop. The line was laid as straight as possible, based on land acquisitions, but curves had to be incorporated as the line entered the gentle rolling hills as it drew nearer to Bishop. To establish smooth track for freight movement, grades were minimized as much as possible using trestles, cuts, and fills as needed. Two towns were also established and platted along the route. The first town, Newman, was platted at the 8 mile mark, when measured from downtown Long City. The second town, Paola, was platted at mile marker 14 from downtown Long City.
As both towns only existed on paper when the line was built through, the line exhibited steam railroad characteristics by using private right-of-way through town, rather than placing the tracks on what would become the major street. Small railroad style depots were constructed with a passenger waiting room and a small freight room to accommodate less-than-carload lot freight. Farmers and ranchers in the area around both towns had already organized and began constructing a grain elevator and stock pen in each town as the line went through. Lots were then put up for sale in both Newman and Paola to attract businesses and residents for each town.
The private right-of-way went as far as possible into Bishop, but the last half mile of the line required running in the middle Spruce Street to reach the depot location. Although the Long City Street Railway wanted to use Main Street through town, the city government felt it would be in the best interest of all to place the interurban line on Spruce Street, which was the next street to the east of the Main Street, so to avoid future congestion on Main Street. Although the interurban line was not on its preferred street, Spruce Street had more space available for a depot on a lot to the side of the road (down the block from the town square), as well as a large lot one block to the south for a carbarn and layover track for interurban cars, preventing interurban cars from needing to layover in the middle of the street. Another grain elevator and a small freight depot were established just before the line entered Spruce Street on the edge of Bishop. No track connection or interchange was made with the uncooperative Great Northern railroad, but gradual efforts to persuade the Great Northern to cooperate would come to fruition many years later.
The Long City Street Railway met its goal of completing the line by July 1906 to help handle the local wheat harvest. The opening of the line was met with great fanfare as it was the culmination of nearly 15 years of vision and planning. With operational details still being worked out, the emphasis was on hauling the local grain harvest, so passenger interurbans were required to dodge the freight trains. New Jewett interurban cars were delivered shortly before the opening of the line, but not all electric freight locomotives had arrived, so the Long City & Denver provided small steam locomotives (and crews) to help haul the harvest. Many passenger excursions were chartered in the first few weeks of the line as organizations and groups wanted to ride and support the new line. As the season changed to fall, what could be described as the normal traffic pattern had been established with all equipment having arrived. Hourly passenger trips were scheduled throughout the day and freight trains began giving priority to passenger movements. Increases in traffic were steady, and all signs pointed freight traffic growing to preferred levels within a few years as more residents moved to Newman and Paola.
The Long City Street Railway was now operating 8 city streetcar lines and 2 interurban lines. The character of the system had evolved beyond a street railway. In Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Twin City Rapid Transit had long been operating under the name Twin City Lines, so the Long City Street Railway took the cue and rebranded itself Long City Lines. With its new identity, Long City Lines began a new era as both a passenger and freight carrier.
Long City Lines
Long City Lines found itself in a concerning position when the Panic of 1907 arrived. Although Long City Lines was not involved with any of the banks directly involved in the crisis when it began in October, the subsequent anxiety across the financial system weakened the New York financial backers of the Bishop line. National and regional banks experienced collapse or compromised standing in ensuing bank runs, and stock prices plummeted as liquidity dried up in the financial system. A full collapse of the system was ultimately averted, but it exacerbated the continued economic contraction that had begun mid-year. Traffic on the Bishop line had not grown at the expected rate and Long City Lines had difficulty funding both the bond payments and continued operations in light of the economic downturn. Reorganization became necessary.
The Long City & Denver recognized the position Long City Lines had found itself in. The Long City & Denver was exposed to the financial woes of Long City Lines as one of its backers, and was concerned about the ability of Long City Lines to fund its liabilities. Following discussion between the two companies and financial backers in New York, Long City Lines indicated its inability to pay its debts, so the financial backers in New York requested the U.S. District Court to begin bankruptcy proceedings in late-1907. Through amicable arrangements of all parties, the debts of Long City Lines were restructured and a new plan for the company emerged. The Long City & Denver stepped in to acquire Long City Lines as an operating subsidiary in order to economize the operations among both companies. Long City Lines would remain an electric interurban and streetcar system with its own identity, but many facilities would be shared and many corporate operations combined. Upon agreement among all parties, Long City Lines emerged from bankruptcy in 1908 with the same operating identity, but with the new corporate name of Long City Electric Railway.
To be continued...