Montgomery Branch Operations

Observed March 5, 2001 – The Union Pacific locomotive with its short string of graffiti-covered box cars stands out sharply against the white snow-covered fields. Passing lightly over old rails partially hidden under the melting March snow, the train slowly makes its way back to New Prague after stopping briefly in Montgomery. The colors of the UP seem strangely out of place on this isolated stretch of track on the Minnesota prairie. Acquired when the UP purchased the Chicago and Northwestern back in 1995, the section of track between Montgomery and New Prague sees very little traffic. The Seneca food processing plant at the south end of town is the only customer that requires rail service in Montgomery these days.

The trains didn’t always plod along at such a slow pace. What is now a lonely segment of branch line track was once the main line of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway. The first rails were laid through Montgomery in 1877 when the M&StL extended its tracks 80 miles southward to Albert Lea from its original terminus with the St. Paul and Sioux City Railway at Sioux City Junction near Shakopee. Running nearly straight south, the line passed through Jordan, New Prague, Montgomery, Waterville, Waseca, and New Richland.

The M&StL was primarily built to serve Minneapolis businesses that wanted a locally-controlled railroad for moving manufactured goods and processed agricultural products to eastern markets. The existing railroads were controlled by interests in Chicago that did not want to lose out to competing interests in Minneapolis. Regional rivalries were very strong in those days and it was common for the railroads of one region to set rates and terms that protected local businesses from their competitors in other regions. For Minneapolis businesses to prosper, a locally-controlled railroad was essential. This was the primary driving force behind the building of the M&StL.

In the mid-1950’s when the M&StL was at its most prosperous height, priority time freights and passenger trains passed over these very same rails, traveling south through Minnesota and Iowa and then east to Illinois. The M&StL advertised itself as “the Peoria Gateway” and offered through freight and passenger service from Minneapolis to Peoria by way of Albert Lea and Oskaloosa. The route to Peoria by-passed the crowded yards and terminals in Chicago and saved a full day of travel time for freight shipments bound for eastern destinations.

The attentive reader may have noticed that St. Louis has not been mentioned as one of the destination cities reached by the M&StL. Like many a railroad with an ambitious sounding name, the M&StL never did reach as far south as St. Louis. However, the name stuck and “The Tootin’ Louie” retained the same corporate name during all the years of its existence. The name must have appealed to people, especially to the residents of the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, whose city took its name from the M&StL.

The M&StL wasn’t the only railroad to extend itself through Montgomery. In 1902, the Milwaukee Road also laid rails through Montgomery, crossing over the M&StL tracks near the site of the current Seneca plant. The Milwaukee line ran from Farmington to Mankato, passing through Elko, Lonsdale, Montgomery, and Le Center. This extension of the Milwaukee Road operated until the mid-1970’s when the Milwaukee acquired trackage rights into Mankato over the Chicago & Northwestern. This made it possible to terminate the line at Le Center. Full abandonment of the line came later in 1980.

Mostly memories are all that is left of railroading in Montgomery. The fast-moving freight trains, the shrill whistle blasts in the dead of the night, the drone of straining engines, and the M&StL tracks beyond Montgomery are all gone. The manufactured goods and agricultural products that once moved over these rails have found other routes to market. Like the practical and sturdy turn-of-the-century farm houses that once dotted the rural landscape, the branch line locals have all but disappeared. Even the prairie itself seems tamer and smaller and is no longer the dominating force that challenged the muscles and machines of previous generations.

Still, the sight of the little UP train lurching along on rusty old rails means that railroading is still alive on this small remnant of the historic M&StL main line. Its fading presence is a tenuous link with a nearly forgotten railroading past and a reminder of prairie life from an earlier era.

About the author

name: Dean Eisfelder

Dean Eisfelder is a retired technical writer who spent most of his working career producing hardware, software, and process publications. He is currently a member of the Riverview Library Writers’ Group and writes mainly for personal enjoyment. His works include historical narratives, family history, personal memoirs, short stories and a mystery novel. The encouragement he received from his fellow writers has given him the confidence to pursue his interest in creative writing.