Mesaba Railway

The Mesaba Railway was the first and only

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

electric transportation system on the

Mesabi Range The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota. ...

, with its inaugural run on December 25, 1912. The track covered 30.5 miles between

Gilbert, Minnesota Gilbert is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,799 at the 2010 census. State Highway 37 (MN 37) and State Highway 135 (MN 135) are two of the main routes in Gilbert. Gilbert is part of the Quad Cities, w ...

and Hibbing, Minnesota with 6 cars offering hourly service between 6 a.m. and midnight, seven days a week. The cars could travel at speeds up to 40 miles per hour and offered passengers such modern conveniences as heat, smoking cars, and toilets. The introduction of the Mesaba Railway changed life on the Iron Range. The emergence of the interurban marked the beginning of the end for other forms of transportation including "livery stables, horses and buggies." People now had more choices of where to live, shop, and find entertainment. Prior to its introduction, public transportation was practically non-existent and limited to horse and buggy, railroad transportation, and a few cars for the more affluent. A majority of the population lived in mining locations, which were small communities built in close proximity to the mining operations, where one could easily walk from place to place. The last interurban passenger car operated on April 16, 1927. The Mesaba Railway Company was sold to Northland Transportation Company (later incorporated as

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in 1930). The railway company went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

on March 7, 1924, and was sold in December 1927. All of the offices and equipment were sold to the Minnesota State Highway Department. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mesaba Railway Interurban railways in Minnesota Defunct Minnesota railroads Mesaba Railway 1912 establishments in Minnesota 1927 disestablishments in Minnesota Railway companies established in 1912 Railway companies disestablished in 1927