By 1868, it was extended another 29 miles to Howard Lake, and 49 more miles to Willmar the following year.
In 1879, this segment of the StP&P was sold to the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway. The StPM&M had a considerable amount of trackage throughout Minnesota.
By 1890, the StPM&M became part of the Great Northern Railway. The collection of railroads dating back to the St. Paul & Pacific were primarily controlled by railroad magnate James J Hill.
Great Northern used this as a main line, with secondary connections to other points.
By 1970, the Great Northern merged with rival Northern Pacific and Chicago Burlington & Quincy to form Burlington Northern Railroad.
BN continued to use this as a mainline, supplementing other busy segments throughout the area.
In 1996, BN merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway to form BNSF Railway, the current owners of this line.
BNSF continues to operate this route with a fair amount of traffic. It is known as the Wayzata Subdivision.
08/18/21
Located in the city of Delano, this large girder bridge crosses the South Fork Crow River and River Street.
Built in 1904, the bridge originally consisted of four girder spans for a total length of 270 feet. However, the bridge was extensively rebuilt between 1945 and 1947, including the replacement of both approaches.
Currently, the bridge consists of a pair of 80 foot deck girder spans, a 60 foot deck girder, a pair of steel stringer spans and a concrete span. The bridge rests on concrete and stone abutments.
Overall, the bridge appears to be in good condition.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design.
The photo above is an overview.