BNSF Maple River Bridge

In 1881, the The Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Company (StPM&M) constructed a new railroad extending from Moorhead, Minnesota to Fargo, North Dakota as part of the new line from Moorhead to Grand Forks.  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 North Dakota.  In 1907, the StPM&M would be sold to another Hill company, the Great Northern Railway (GN).  Because the mainlines between Minneapolis and Fargo and Grand Forks and the Pacific Coast were not connected, a connection between Fargo and Minot was desired.  In 1912, the GN completed a 226 mile line, known as the "Surrey Cutoff", to connect the two mainlines.  The line began near 12th Avenue in Fargo, and ended at Surrey, immediately east of Minot.  The GN utilized this route as part of a principal mainline, and the route significantly improved operations for the GN, as it reduced the transcontinental route by 52 miles.  In 1970, GN merged with rival Northern Pacific Railway and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad to form Burlington Northern Railroad (BN).  In 1996, the BN merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in 1996, to form BNSF Railway. BNSF continues to operate the Moorhead to Nolan segment as the Prosper Subdivision, and the Nolan to Surrey segment as the KO Subdivision.