BNSF US-75 Bridge (Crookston)

In 1875, the Red River Valley Railroad Company would construct a new 12 mile line from Crookston, Minnesota to Fisher, Minnesota. In 1879, railroad magnate James J. Hill would gain control of the line, and fund a 12 mile extension to Grand Forks. After the extension was constructed, the railroad was sold to the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Company (StPM&M). The StPM&M would acquire or build a considerable amount of trackage throughout Minnesota in the coming years. 45 miles of additional railroad were constructed between Crookston and Fosston, Minnesota in 1888. The Eastern Railway Company of Minnesota would construct an additional 99 miles of railroad from Fosston to Deer River, Minnesota. In 1907, the StPM&M and Eastern Railway Company were purchased by Great Northern Railway.

The GN operated this route as a mainline. The line continued west to Seattle and east to the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. 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 the Grand Forks to Cass Lake segment of this line as the Grand Forks Subdivision.