A second route would be constructed in 1915, connecting Auto Club Junction (along the Minnesota River) to West Minneapolis.
These two routes became a part of the Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern Railway in 1918.
The MNS was a small local freight hauler in the Minneapolis area. It served independently until 1982, when it was purchased by the Soo Line.
In 1984, Canadian Pacific Railway gained complete control of the Soo Line. Unfortunately for this route, the major connections of the Milwaukee Road, Chicago & North Western, Rock Island and Chicago Great Western all sold or removed their area trackage.
Currently, Canadian Pacific owns the route between West Minneapolis and Lakeville, although Savage to Lakeville does not operate. The bridge across the Minnesota River is owned by the Twin Cities & Western Railroad, and Progressive Rail owns the tracks between Lakeville and Northfield.
06/26/21
Located in the city of Bloomington, this through girder bridge crosses Interstate 494 and Minnesota Highway 5 between Lyndale and Nicollet Avenues.
Built in 1959, it is one of the oldest railroad over interstate structures in Minnesota. The bridge features a pair of double track through girder spans, set onto concrete substructures.
The pier features a decorative arched design, typically seen on the late 1950s highway projects in Minnesota. The deck of the bridge is not ballasted, and is instead built of sheet metal.
The roadway underneath this bridge is a significant bottleneck for Twin Cities freeways. Only three mainline lanes and one axillary lane in each direction pass underneath the bridge. Over the years, there has been many proposals to rebuild the section of freeway between MN-100 and MN-77.
As a result, the future of this bridge is cloudy. The bridge itself appears to be in decent condition, but likely needs a new coat of paint at the bare minimum. If MNDOT were to want to add lanes through here, there is no room and the bridge would need to be demolished and replaced.
The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the common design and newer age. However, it is an excellent example of an early Interstate bridge in Minnesota.
The photo above is an overview.