Duluth Street Railway

Can anyone tell me what line a wrench marked D. ST. RY came from. I picked up a box of old tools at an auction and this was in it. It is an open end 1 7/8" spud wrench about 14" long . I can provide a photo via email if anyone wants one.
Thanks
fedopp

I'm guessing that it might be from the Duluth Street Railway, as there are eight D St Ry's noted in my Gross book, but only one in Minnesota. They started out in 1881, had 78.02 miles of track, and ended in 1933, when they became the Duluth Superior Transit Co. It's definitely from a street railway company- not a railroad with those initials. Sounds like it would make a nice display underneath a photo of one of their trolleys.

Thanks for the information. It makes sense when considering some of the other items I got with this wrench. Working for a RR i tend to buy almost anything railroad related at auction.
Thanks Again
Fedopp

3rdrail wrote:I'm guessing that it might be from the Duluth Street Railway, as there are eight D St Ry's noted in my Gross book, but only one in Minnesota. They started out in 1881, had 78.02 miles of track, and ended in 1933, when they became the Duluth Superior Transit Co. It's definitely from a street railway company- not a railroad with those initials. Sounds like it would make a nice display underneath a photo of one of their trolleys.

Thanks. I'd guess the name change was when the converted from streetcars to buses. IIRC some systems like Duluth's and St. Clouds converted long before WWII.

stmp692 wrote:

3rdrail wrote:I'm guessing that it might be from the Duluth Street Railway, as there are eight D St Ry's noted in my Gross book, but only one in Minnesota. They started out in 1881, had 78.02 miles of track, and ended in 1933, when they became the Duluth Superior Transit Co. It's definitely from a street railway company- not a railroad with those initials. Sounds like it would make a nice display underneath a photo of one of their trolleys.

Thanks. I'd guess the name change was when the converted from streetcars to buses. IIRC some systems like Duluth's and St. Clouds converted long before WWII.

Not so soon before WWII as you'd think. St. Cloud lasted until 1936, according to The Electric Railways of Minnesota by Russell Olson (the definitive source on street railways in our state). As for Duluth, this is from Electric Railways and from the Duluth Transit Authority's History page:

-Duluth Street Railway (incorporated October 1881, first rail laid 1882, electrified starting 1890)
-Douglas County Street Railway (incorporated 1884), purchased by Superior Rapid Transit Railway Co. in 1892
-SRTR Co. consolidated into the Duluth Street Railway, August 1900, under control of the Lowry family of Minneapolis. DSR entered receivership, May 1930.
-Reorganized as the Duluth-Superior Transit Company in 1933. Last Superior streetcar line abandoned 1935 in favor of gasoline-powered buses and trolley buses, last Duluth streetcar line (and the Incline Railway) in 1939.
-Propane buses brought into service 1951, removed in 1959
-Trolley buses removed from service 1959, first diesel buses appear that year
-Duluth Transit Authority created 1969 by the Minnesota State Legislature