Defunct railroads
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The following railroads operate in the U.S. state of South Dakota.
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BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, 32,500 miles (52,300 km) of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad.
The Soo Line Railroad is one of the primary United States railroad subsidiaries for the CPKC Railway, one of six U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM), which was commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of that company with two other CPKC subsidiaries: The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway, and the Wisconsin Central Railway. It is also the successor to other Class I railroads, including the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. On the other hand, a large amount of mileage was spun off in 1987 to Wisconsin Central Ltd., now part of the Canadian National Railway. The Soo Line Railroad and the Delaware and Hudson Railway, CPKC's other major subsidiary, presently do business as the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). Most equipment has been repainted into the CP scheme, but the U.S. Surface Transportation Board groups all of the company's U.S. subsidiaries under the Soo Line name for reporting purposes. The Minneapolis headquarters are located in the Canadian Pacific Plaza building, having moved from the nearby Soo Line Building.
The I&M Rail Link was a railroad operating in the north central portion of the United States. The company commenced operations on April 5, 1997, acquiring lines from the Canadian Pacific Railway and Soo Line Railroad.
The Crescent Bridge carries a rail line across the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois. It was formerly owned by the Davenport, Rock Island and North Western Railway, a joint subsidiary of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, which was split in 1995 between then-joint owners Burlington Northern Railroad and Soo Line Railroad, with BN getting the bridge and the Illinois-side line, and Soo Line getting the Iowa-side line. Since then, after spinning off its lines in the area to I&M Rail Link, later Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad, the lines were repurchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway, parent of the Soo Line. Meanwhile, BN has merged into the BNSF Railway, the current owner of the bridge.
The Northern Plains Railroad is a short line railroad that operates over 344 miles (554 km) of track in the northern U.S. state of Minnesota and the northern U.S. state of North Dakota.
The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM) was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwestern United States. Commonly known since its opening in 1884 as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was merged with several other major CP subsidiaries on January 1, 1961, to form the Soo Line Railroad.
The following is a brief history of the North American rail system, mainly through major changes to Class I railroads, the largest class by operating revenue.
Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern Railroad is a Class II freight railroad operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States. Portions of the railroad also extend into Wyoming and Nebraska. It is owned and operated by Genesee & Wyoming. The primary commodities shipped are grain, clay, and cement. Operations began on June 1, 2014.
The Paynesville Subdivision or Paynesville Sub is a railway line that runs about 118 miles (190 km) from Glenwood to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The line is operated by Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) under the Soo Line Railroad, its US subsidiary. Construction on the line began in 1886 by the Minneapolis & Pacific Railway which intended to build a railroad out to the Dakotas to supply grain to flour mills in Minneapolis. The line starts out at CP University and continues westward through the Humboldt Yard and crosses the BNSF Monticello Subdivision just east of the junction with MN&S Spur in Crystal. Then the line continues northwest through many small towns on its way to Glenwood.
The D&I Railroad (DAIR) is a Class III shortline railroad which is a wholly owned subsidiary of L. G. Everist, Inc. The line hauls ethanol, dried distillers grains (DDG), corn oil, plastic pellets, cement, sand, gravel, and Sioux Quartzite, which is mined from two large quarries in Dell Rapids.
