MNN Sand Hill River Bridge

In 1872, the The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company (StP&P) constructed a new railroad between north of Barnesville, Minnesota and just south of Warren, Minnesota; a distance of 102 miles. The line would be extended an additional 65 miles to St. Vincent, and the Canadian Border at Noyes in 1878. By 1879, a newly completed link to the Twin Cities reached Barnesville, giving this route a direct connection to the Twin Cities. Also in 1879, the StP&P would be purchased by the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway (StPM&M). The StPM&M was controlled by James J. Hill, a railroad tycoon who wished to build a railroad network extending from Minnesota to the Pacific Coast. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, the StPM&M acquired and constructed numerous new railroad lines throughout Minnesota. In 1907, the StPM&M would be sold to another Hill company, the Great Northern Railway (GN).

GN operated this as their primary connection to Canada. In 1970, GN merged with rival Northern Pacific Railway and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad to form Burlington Northern Railroad. The segment of this route between Downer and Glyndon would be abandoned in 1974, followed by a segment between north of Barnesville to Downer in 1981, the segment between Ada and Felton in 1990. BN merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in 1996, to form BNSF Railway, which sold the segment between Crookston and Ada to the Minnesota Northern Railroad (MNN), and the segment between Barnesville and north of Barnesville to the Otter Tail Valley Railroad in 1996. The MNN abandoned a segment between Ada and Beltrami in approximately 2008. Today, the MNN operates the Crookston to Beltrami segment of this line, while the OTVR operates the Barnesville segment of this line. The BNSF continues to operate the Crookston to Noyes portion of this line as the Noyes Subdivision, with a busy interchange with the Canadian National Railway at Noyes.