Lyndale Railway Company

In December 1885, the company experimented with electrification using a system from Charles Van Depoele, but decided that this was not yet mature enough, because the electric motors in the prototype vehicles vibrated heavily and due to other mechanical problems.

In 1886, the railroad began running soda motors manufactured by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, reportedly the first (and possibly the only) such engines to be built in the United States, it seems that others may have been imported previously for use along elevated rail lines in New York City.

The company, however, was never profitable, and when the lake tourist traffic declined, it was sold in 1886 to James J. Hill's St. Paul, Minneapolis, & Manitoba, a predecessor of the Great Northern Railway.

The track was re-gauged to standard gauge and extended to Hutchinson, but the line from Lake Harriet to Hopkins was taken out of service.

The steam locomotives were unpopular in the city, which reduced the profitability further so that it was leased in 1887 to the Minneapolis Street Railway.