THE STORY OF THE DAN PATCH LINE
(A portion of the foregoing article was taken from "Trains", a magazine of railroading, June, 1959, article by Wm. D. Middleton.)
The rather remarkable history of what is now the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southfield Railroad is closely linked with a Minneapolis livestock feed and mail order tycoon, Colonel Marion W. Savage. Around the turn of the century, the Colonel built a 750 acre stock farm at Hamilton, renamed Savage in the Colonel's honor. He set out to acquire a distinguished stable of race horses to promote the sale of the "Three Feeds for One Cent" brand, manufactured by his International Stock Food Company, then the largest firm of its kind in the world. He paid $60,000, a record price at that time, to acquire the pacer, Dan Patch, one of the most famous race horses of all time.
The Colonel got his $60,000 worth. Until Dan Patch was turned out to stud in 1909, he traveled to exhibitions all over the United States and Canada in his own elegant white railroad car, attend by white-clad grooms. He broke record after record for the half mile, mile and two mile lengths before tremendous crowds, which were reminded constantly that the wonder horse subsisted on Savage's "Three Feeds for One Cent".
The need for ready communication Minneapolis and his farm led Colonel Savage to become one of the founders (President) of the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Traction Company in 1907. F.G.L. Hunt, a Buck Hill resident in Orchard Gardens, was the Chief Engineer.
The magic of the Dan Patch name also was being used to promote cigars, tobacco, toys, grooming supplies, washing machines and even a piece of sheet music called the "Dan Patch Two-Step". A bolt of lightning superimposed on a horseshoe became the symbol of the railroad founded by Savage.
M.W. Savage acquired a pair of gas-electric cars, the "Augereta" and the "Irene", which inaugurated a passenger-only service on July 4, 1910. It ran from 54th and Nicollet in Minneapolis to Antler's park near Lakeville. Service was extended to Northfield when more cars were added later. At one time, the line had 20 trains running daily.
In 1913, the railroad ventured into the freight business. A General Electric gas-electric locomotive was purchased, the first of its kind ever built. The line became world's first railroad operating both freight and passenger trains using only internal combustion power.
Antler's Park became a total summer resort, remembered by some as a miniature Disneyland. An amusement park was constructed and operated by Savage's company on Lake Marion. A trip to view the famed Dan Patch, and other great pacers in the Savage stables, became another popular outing via the Dan Patch line.
Envisioning heavy commuter traffic on "Dan Patch", Colonel Savage purchased several thousand acres of farm land in Orchard Gardens, 25 miles south of Minneapolis. He began subdividing it into five and ten acre tracts to be sold to Twin City residents.
Good times didn't last long. Only one year later in 1916 the Dan Patch Electric Line was in the hands of a receiver. The bankrupt Dan Patch Line was purchased at a foreclosure auction by the present operator, Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern, at its inception in 1918.
The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern now operates as a bridge route to many larger interchanges, where connections are made with western freights. Pickups and deliveries are made en route to the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Milwaukee, Northwestern and Rock Island railroads.
It is one of the most scenic pieces of railroad right-of-way in the area. South of the Soo connection at Crystal, the line twists its way through the Minneapolis western suburbs of Golden Valley, St. Louis Park, Edina and Bloomington. The frequent bridges and trestles which carry the single tract across highways and railroads create a roller coaster effect. At Savage the rails drop abruptly into the wooded Minnesota River Valley, then clime just as sharply into the rolling countryside through Orchard Gardens, passing lakes and farm land on its way to Northfield.
The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern performs a valuable service to a good man shippers and contributes greatly to the well-being of the nation's 222,422 mile railroad network. It is regarded as a useful, worthy member of the industry.
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