Dakota Rail Trail

The Dakota Rail Trail goes between Wayzata and Lester Prairie (eventually to Hutchinson), winding its way through the Lake Minnetonka towns of Crystal Bay, Minnetonka Beach, Navarre, Spring Park, and Mound.

The Great Northern Railway (GN) built the rail line in 1889, originally going through Hopkins to reach St. Bonifacius and end up in Hutchinson. In 1900 GN connected its North Shore Line along Lake Minnetonka to St. Bonifacius, which replaced the route through Hopkins. The new route connected with one of their mainlines between Minneapolis and the west coast, which still exists today. If you look really close on Google Earth you can see the right-of-way of the old route just south of St. Bonifacius (you can see it more clearly with historic aerial images here-https://www.lib.umn.edu/apps/mhapo/).

This line was known as the Hutch Spur and in addition to freight also had a daily roundtrip passenger train between Minneapolis and Hutchinson. Its not known when passenger service ended.

In 1970 GN merged with the Northern Pacific, Chicago Burlington & Quincy, and Spokane Portland & Seattle Railway to form Burlington Northern (BN). BN continued operations on the Hutch Spur until 1985, when they proposed to abandon the line. Due to opposition from shippers, a new railroad was sought to continue operations. That same year Dakota Rail (where the trail name comes from) leased the line from BN and continued freight service. Two short-lived dinner trains also operated on the Hutch Spur; one by Dakota Rail and the other called the Minnetonka Zephyr. The owner of the Minnetonka Zephyr moved operations to Stillwater due to disagreement over lease rates on the Hutch Spur.

In 1995 RailAmerica, Inc. purchased Dakota Rail and continued operations on the Hutch Spur until 2000. There was not enough business on the line to make a profit, and track maintenance was poor. The McCleod County Regional Railroad Authority once again looked for a new railroad, but there was no interest. The Hutch Spur was officially abandoned in 2001.

A few years later the rails and ties began to be removed. As a kid I remember going through St. Bonifacius and Hutchinson on family trips, and would see the rails and ties slowly but surely disappearing. In 2008 the first segment of the Dakota Rail Trail was completed, and has since reached Lester Prairie. Its planned to eventually reach Hutchinson.

While there have been mumblings about the potential for rail transit on this corridor there has been no official discussion or study. If it were seriously considered it would have significant opposition from Lake Minnetonka residents, but I on the other hand would fully support it.

Here is an album by Robert Ball showing Dakota Rail operations-https://www.flickr.com/photos/22397831@N05/sets/72157629749319735/with/16243933781/

Here are my photos from bike rides on the Dakota Rail Trail:

Trail bridge over Highway 7 in St. Bonifacius. When I was a kid in the early 2000s there were still railroad crossing signals and tracks here, but as time went on they were removed.

Abandoned rail spur going to the former Tonka Toy factory in Mound.

Engine shed in Spring Park, now used for maintenance equipment.

The tracks used to wind their way through here in Minnetonka Beach.

This is just west of downtown Wayzata. This track ends just beyond the trees, but used to go all the way to Hutchinson. Now the Dakota Rail Trail takes over the right-of-way. Behind me is BNSF Railway's Wayzata Subdivision between Minneapolis and Willmar.

Information on the Dakota Rail Trail including a route map can be found here-https://www.threeriversparks.org/location/dakota-rail-regional-trail