In 1877, the Western Railroad Company of Minnesota built an extension south from Brainerd to Sauk Rapids. This company became a part of the St. Paul & Northern Pacific Railroad after completion.
In 1884, the St. Paul and Northern Pacific Railway Company built from Minneapolis to Sauk Rapids, connecting Moorhead to Minneapolis via Brainerd.
The StP&NP built a cutacross between Little Falls, Minnesota and the Northern Pacific line at Staples. This route reduced miles and provided for a much more efficient trip.
By 1898, the StP&NP became a part of the Northern Pacific. Northern Pacific began making heavy upgrades to this line.
Among the upgrades Northern Pacific began was a double tracking project from Minneapolis to Moorhead. In addition, between Dilworth and Detroit Lakes, a massive regrading project had to be completed to allow for better operations.
Northern Pacific merged with their rival Great Northern in 1970 to form Burlington Northern.
Burlington Northern used this line heavily, before merging with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe to form BNSF.
Under BNSF, this line sees up to 60 trains a day in some places. The line is very commonly known as the Staples Subdivision, between Minneapolis and Moorhead.
In addition, BNSF operates the Carlton to Staples segment as the Brainerd Subdivision, which is an important connection to the Twin Ports.
08/18/21
Located in Hawley, this large steel stringer bridge crosses US Highway 10 just south of Valley Street.
Built in 1958, the bridge consists of five large steel stringer spans, set onto decorative concrete substructures. The bridge was built to carry three tracks, which it still does.
This bridge was built as US Highway 10 needed to be widened through Hawley. This style of bridge was commonly used on grade separation projects in Minnesota.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in good condition, with no significant deterioration noted.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.