Books

• The Electric Railways of Minnesota by Russel L. Olson is full of primary document research on the history of Twin City Rapid Transit as well as numerous small town streetcar systems and interurban lines found in Minnesota at one time. This is one of the most thorough treatments of the history of electric railways in Minnesota and was an outgrowth of the work on Interurbans Special No. 14 (see below in the special publications section). Originally published in 1976 with a supplemental update in 1990 by the Minnesota Transportation Museum (the Minnesota Streetcar Museum was a spin-off of this group). This out-of-print book (including the 1976 original text and 1990 supplement) is now available freely on the Internet Archive website.
• Twin Cities by Trolley by John W. Diers and Aaron Isaacs offers a rolling snapshot of Minneapolis and St. Paul from the 1880s to the 1950s, when the streetcar system shaped the entire area. Published in 2007 by the University of Minnesota Press, this book is currently in print and is available for purchase from the MSM store.
• Twin Ports by Trolley by Aaron Isaacs explains the workings of the Duluth–Superior streetcars. A rich evocation of a fascinating historical era, this tour of the Twin Ports includes a wealth of interviews and newspaper features, maps and photographs illustrating routes and landmarks and picturing those who made the rails hum. Published in 2014 by the University of Minnesota Press, this book is currently in print and is available for purchase from the MSM store.
• Twin Cities Trolleys in Color by Aaron Isaacs shows the big, yellow TCRT “standard cars” and the brand-new PCC cars from the 1940s to the last streetcar run in June, 1954. 128 pages, 229 all-color photos and 5 maps. Published in 2017 by Morning Sun Books, this book is currently in print and is available for purchase from the MSM store.

Special Publications

• The 1940s was a forty page publication from 1995. It documents the last decade of really first class public transportation in the Twin Cities. It includes a brief history of transit in the Twin Cities, an overview of the TCRT system, and first-hand accounts of riding and working the cars as well as information about the impact of World War II on the system. This publication is now available freely on the Internet Archive website.
• The Como-Harriet Story was a forty page publication from 1997 for the 25th anniversary of museum operations of the Como-Harriet Streetcar Line. It details a brief history of the historic Como-Harriet line as well as the development of the museum line in the 1970s and includes numerous photos from along the line. This publication is now available freely on the Internet Archive website.
• Interurbans Special No. 14: Electric Railways of Minneapolis and St. Paul was an eighty-eight page publication from 1953 which was perhaps the first effort to thoroughly document the history of the TCRT system. It provides a solid foundation on the history, operation, and technical details of the Twin City’s streetcar system. Research for this publication was later tapped to produce the Electric Railways of Minnesota book (see above in the books section). This publication is now available freely on the Internet Archive website.

Historic Newsletters and Minnegazette Issues

From 1962 until 1970 the Minnesota Transportation Museum published a series of occasional newsletters featuring museum news. From 1970 until 1981 this newsletter was typically bimonthly and became known as the Minnegazette. In 1981 the Minnegazette became a glossy bimonthly which began to include more historic photos and articles. Beginning in 1988 this transitioned to a quarterly publication. Aaron Isaacs became editor in 1990 when the magazine grew to a standard 32 pages with greatly increased photo and history content. Following the spinoff of the Minnesota Streetcar Museum from the Minnesota Transportation Museum in 2005 the Minnegazette became a jointly published history only publication and museum information was instead distributed through the Streetcar Currents. In 2007 Twin City Lines replaced the Minnegazette as a quarterly history magazine for members.

As part of the 50th anniversary of the Como-Harriet museum line the 1962-2007 issues of the MTM Newsletter and Minnegazettes have been made available online. See our Historic Newsletters and Minnegazettes page to access them!

Twin City Lines Issues

Beginning in 2007 Twin City Lines replaced the Minnegazette as the quarterly history magazine for Minnesota Streetcar Museum members. Each issue contains articles with detailed insights into the history of electric railways in Minnesota, usually within a particular theme. Members of the streetcar museum receive mailed copies of each quarterly magazine.

As part of the 50th anniversary of the Como-Harriet museum line we are putting Twin City Lines issues online. Issues will be available online about 2 years after publication. Please consider becoming a museum member and start receiving current issues!