RUSSELL L. OLSON:

Russell L. Olson, a lifelong streetcar enthusiast, was born in Minneapolis in 1931. In the mid-1940s he worked during the summers for the Twin City Rapid Transit Company (TCRT), the firm that operated the streetcar and, later, the local bus system in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. He later worked for Pillsbury Mills. Olson and his family for many years made their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington.

Olson wrote the book Electric Railways of Minnesota (1976). He and Edwin H. Nelson co-authored the December, 1953 issue of Interurbans magazine ("Electric Railways of Minneapolis & St. Paul"), which was concerned with the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company.

Olson was affiliated with the Minnesota Transportation Museum (MTM), which published his book.

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The collection consists of research notes, background information, and compilations of statistical and financial data relating to the Twin City Rapid Transit Company and to more than twenty five smaller street railway (horsecar and streetcar) systems located in small and medium sized cities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota. There is also information on two streetcar manufacturing firms. The files were compiled by Olson, apparently in the course of his work on the book and the Interurban magazine issue, both of which are in the Minnesota Historical Society book collection.

Olson's files include information about the history, finances, and operations of small and relatively obscure streetcar lines; streetcars, horsecars, and other equipment; buses; steamboats operated on Lake Minnetonka by the TCRT; a monorail system in South St. Paul; and streetcars in Europe, Canada, and Australia.

Much of the collection consists of Olson's typewritten notes and transcriptions made from TCRT records, published background and reference materials, and some short historical narratives. There are right-of-way and track maps, annotated topographic maps, and Sanborn fire insurance maps; clippings; employee and equipment rosters; and blueprint and blueline mechanical drawings. Original documents (and photocopies of original documents) are scattered throughout the collection, including car data sheets, timetables, product literature, advertisements, and some correspondence (1910s-1920s) between TCRT master mechanic W. J. Smith and general superintendent Donald Goodrich. There is also some of Olson's correspondence with archivists, librarians, and with other researchers; with officials of some of the street-railroad companies; and with other streetcar enthusiasts, including Clarence J. Vincent of Winona, Minnesota.

There are some photographs, including pictures of buses and an album of snapshot reproductions of older photographs taken along the TCRT Stillwater and Lake Minnetonka divisions (approximately 1907-approximately 1917).

The collection as presently constituted includes files previously cataloged as "Olson, Russell L., comp., 1943-1955 [Material Relating to Street Railways, ca.1872-1955]" (FHE4471.O52).

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Olson, Russell L. Street Railway Research Files. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 8021; 13,292; 14,978; 14,980; 15,548

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, January 1995 and September 1998

Catalog ID number: 990017314040104294

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Olson's book Electric railways of Minnesota, and the issue of Interurbans magazine containing his article, are in the Minnesota Historical Society book collections.

Corporate records of the Twin City Rapid Transit Company are in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Buses -- Minnesota.

Electric railroads.

Horse railroads.

Monorail railroads -- Minnesota -- South Saint Paul.

Steamboats -- Minnesota.

Street-railroads -- Rolling stock.

Street-railroads -- Timetables.

Street-railroads -- Minnesota.

Street-railroads -- North Dakota.

Street-railroads -- Wisconsin.

Organizations:

Central Warehouse Company (Saint Paul, Minn.), author.

Duluth Street Railway Company, author.

Grand Forks Street Railway Company (Grand Forks, N.D.)

La Crosse City Railway Company (La Crosse, Wis.)

Light Weight Noiseless Electric Street Car Company (Chicago, Ill.), author.

Mesaba Railway Co. (Virginia, Minn.), author.

Minneapolis, Anoka and Cuyuna Range Railway Company, author.

Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway Company, author.

Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Co., author.

Mississippi Valley Public Service Company, author.

Northern Car Company (Minneapolis, Minn.), author.

St. Paul Southern Electric Railway Company, author.

Twin City Lines (Minn.), author.

Twin City Rapid Transit Company, author.

Winona City Railway Company (Winona, Minn.)

Document Types:

Advertising.

Maps.

Mechanical drawings.

Photographs.

Schedules.

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