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Story Name
Railroad
Current Railroad
Valuation Section(s)
Subdivision(s)
UP Fairmont Subdivision
State
South/West Terminal
North/East Terminal
Description
C&NW line between Sanborn, MN and Mason City, IA via Fairmont and Blue Earth
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In 1899, the Minnesota and Iowa Railway (M&I) began construction of a new railroad between the existing Chicago & North Western Railway (C&NW) line at Sanborn, Minnesota, extending 47 miles to Fox Lake, Minnesota. The same year, the Iowa, Minnesota and Northwestern Railway (IM&NW) constructed 59 miles of new railroad extending from Mason City, Iowa to Blue Earth, Minnesota. In 1900, that railroad would complete an additional 29 miles to Fox Lake in 1900. Both the M&I and IM&NW became part of the Chicago & North Western Railway in 1900. The C&NW operated this as a secondary route, connecting traffic coming from South Dakota and Minnesota to the mainline through Iowa, via an extension to Belle Plaine, Iowa. <BR> In 1989, the C&NW sold the Sanborn to Comfrey segment to the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad (DM&E) and abandoned the segment between Comfrey and Butterfield. The DM&E would promptly abandon the Sanborn to Comfrey segment, and sell it to the Minnesota Department of Transportation. In 1995, the C&NW would be purchased by the Union Pacific Railroad. Today, Union Pacific operates the segment between Butterfield and Mason City as the Fairmont Subdivision. The segment from Butterfield to Comfrey has been mostly regraded, and the segment from Comfrey to Sanborn is railbanked.
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