The line would be extended an additional distance of 32 miles to Alexandria in 1878. An additional 77 miles would be added, extending the route to Barnesville in 1879.
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.
The following year, the Barnesville & Moorhead Railway built the final 23 miles to Moorhead, Minnesota. Immediately following, the railroad would be sold to the StPM&M.
By 1907, 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 secondary mainline, serving traffic between St. Cloud and Moorhead.
By 1970, the Great Northern merged with rival Northern Pacific and Chicago Burlington & Quincy to form Burlington Northern Railroad.
Burlington Northern would downgrade this line through the 1970s and 1980s, in favor of the double tracked Staples Subdivision.
In 1981, Burlington Northern abandoned the segment between Collegeville and Avon. The remaining route was sold to the Otter Tail Valley Railroad in 1986.
OTVR could not turn a profit on the route, and it was abandoned between Fergus Falls and Avon in 1992. By 1996, the Burlington Northern merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe to form BNSF Railway.
In 2002, BNSF abandoned another segment between St. Joseph and Collegeville. BNSF currently owns a segment between St. Cloud and St. Joseph.
The bulk of the route was railbanked, purchased by governments in 1992 and subsequently reopened as a popular pair of trails.
On the southern half, the trail between Osakis and Collegeville (later St. Joseph) was named the Lake Wobegon Trail. Planning begun in 1994, and the trail was completed by 1998.
The northern half became the Central Lakes Trail, and was completed in 2005. The remaining line between Fergus Falls and Moorhead is operated by the Otter Tail Valley Railroad.
06/26/21
This bridge is one of a pair in Fargo/Moorhead which cross the Red River of the North (Red River).
Constructed in 1913, this bridge was built to replace an aging swing bridge. This swing bridge was a through truss structure, approached by trestle.
It is presently unknown if the swing span was replaced during the 1913 rebuild, or at a later date.
The present bridge is extremely long and curved, consisting of two main through girder spans. On the Minnesota side, five deck plate girder spans approach the structure. On the North Dakota side, ten deck girder spans cross a long flood plain, and are approached by even more concrete slab spans. The bridge rests on stone, concrete and steel substructures.
The bridge is also subject of major concern. Because a few oil trains cross this bridge each day, the bridge must be in good condition.
Unfortunately, several pieces of this bridge have had corrosion, pack rust and complete loss marked. It appears that currently the railroad is monitoring the structure.
The substructures appear to be in fair to poor condition, with significant deterioration throughout the bridge.
The 10 deck girder spans on the west approach appear to be in the worst condition of any spans, with significant loss and deterioration.
The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, due to the several types of structure.
The photo above is an overview, looking east. The bridge is extremely similar to the next bridge downstream, the Grand Forks Rail Bridge.
| Upstream | Fargo Rail Bridge |
| Downstream | Grand Forks Rail Bridge |