BNSF Salt Water Coulee Bridge

In 1880, the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway (StPM&M) began construction of a new railroad line, extending from Grand Forks, North Dakota westwards towards Minot, North Dakota.  The railroad would be constructed in stages, gradually extending west.  The first twelve miles would be constructed to west of Emerado that year, followed by 16 miles to Larimore in 1881; 40 miles  to Bartlett in 1882; 30 miles to Devil's Lake in 1883;, and 121 miles to Minot in 1886.  The line would later be extended westwards through Montana, Idaho and Washington; before reaching the Pacific Coast at Seattle in 1893. 

During the 1880s, the StPM&M would acquire and construct a large amount of railroad lines throughout the north central and northwest United States. Owned by railroad magnate James J. Hill, the railroad would continue to grow into the 1890s, before being sold to the Great Northern Railway (GN) in 1907. The GN, like the StPM&M, was owned by James J. Hill. This route formed a principal mainline of the Great Northern Railway, extending from Duluth to Seattle.  In 1970, GN merged with rival Northern Pacific Railway and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad to form Burlington Northern Railroad. BN was in turn merged with Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in 1996, to form BNSF Railway. BNSF currently operates this line as the Devil's Lake Subdivision.