Minnesota Zephyr

The Minnesota Zephyr is a heritage railroad operating out of Stillwater, Minnesota. It operates as a dinner train and serves a five-course, white linen dinner on a six-mile route, traveling between four and seven miles per hour. Power is provided by an EMD FP7 locomotive. The rolling stock consists of five restored dining cars. The train travels along the St. Croix River bluffs, then turns westward and follows a stream. The trip lasts about three and a half hours.

On September 18, 2008, owner David Paradeau stated that the train would cease operation at the end of the year, becoming a stationary restaurant serving dinner along with the adjacent Stillwater Grill. Paradeau cited the desire to retire, as well as a downturn in business and a $1.6 million loss within the last two years. Paradeau had hoped to sell the railroad right of way to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to be converted to a rail trail that would connect Stillwater to the Gateway State Trail system. That deal did not materialize, however, so Paradeau is planning to sell the land piecemeal to adjoining landowners. The train has had close to a million riders during the last 23 years.

On September 10th 2010 the Minnesota DNR expressed renewed interest in and laid out plans for the Minnesota Zephyr In February of 2012 the sale of the right-of-way was finalized to the Minnesota DNR for 4.37 million dollars. The sale to the DNR does not include the dinner train (engines and cars) itself or the Zephyr building. The Zephyr building and the train are both for sale separate from each other. The rails and ties will be removed in the summer of 2012 in order to prepare the right of way to be made into a walking and biking trail. The DNR currently has plans to pave the first two miles of the trail starting from downtown Stillwater and pave the rest of the trail as funds become available. The DNR is also planning to build a bridge over Manning avenue which is county road 15. The right of way has been considered as a route for a future light rail line into Stillwater. The tracks connecting the Minnesota Zephyr line to Union Pacific to the south through downtown Stillwater were removed in the summer of 2005 after the city of Stillwater forced abandonment of the tracks because they had not been used since 1995 when the last steam engine visited Stillwater. This line was the first railroad line built into Stillwater. Work stopped late in December of 1870 when the ground was too hard to finish the line. The last 1 mile of track was laid into downtown Stillwater in the spring of 1871 after the ground thawed. Two more railroad lines were built into Stillwater coming instead from the south end before the 1890s. The last Burlington Northern freight train to leave Stillwater on this line was in 1982. Burlington Northern submitted a bid to deliver coal via this line to the King power plant in 1985 but the bid was won by Union Pacific. dDN