CPKC Clearwater River Bridge

In 1886, the Minneapolis and Pacific Railway (M&P) began construction on a new 216-mile railroad extending from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Lidgerwood, North Dakota, completing it the same year.  The following year, 70 additional miles would be constructed to Boynton.  The M&P was consolidated into the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway (Soo Line) in 1888.  The Soo Line continued construction on the route in 1891, completing 81 miles from Hankinson, North Dakota to Valley City, North Dakota.  An additional 80 miles to Cathay were completed in 1892, and an additional 183 miles to the Canadian Border and Canadian Pacific Railway connection at Portal, North Dakota was completed in 1893.  The route was constructed primarily to serve as a connection for wheat from Canada and North Dakota to reach the mills at Minneapolis, and became a backbone for the Soo Line.  The Soo Line was a smaller railroad in the Midwest, with routes extending through Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Dakota, with subsidiary routes extending to Chicago.  It was operated as a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway (CP).  By 1937, the Soo Line had entered bankruptcy, and it would be reorganized as the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad in 1944.

By 1961, the Soo Line would be merged with other CP subsidiaries Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad and Wisconsin Central Railroad to form Soo Line Railroad, a company controlled by CP.  In 1984, the Soo Line would be reorganized as the Soo Line Corporation, and the railroad would be fully merged into CP in 1990.  In 1990, the line between Hankinson and Moffit, North Dakota was sold to the Dakota, Missouri Valley and Western Railroad (DMVW).  In 2023, CP would merge with Kansas City Southern Railway to form CPKC, which currently operates the Paynesville Subdivision between Minneapolis and Glenwood; the Elbow Lake Subdivision between Glenwood and Enderlin, North Dakota; the Carrington Subdivision between Enderlin and Harvey, North Dakota; and the Portal Subdivision between Harvey and Portal.  The DMVW continues to operate the Dakota Subdivision over the Hankinson to Mottit segment.  The CPKC segment of this line is expected to grow in significance after the CPKC merger was finalized.