Recently I was checking a BNSF subdivision map and I’m wondering about the history and current train frequencies of several BNSF subdivisions.
First off is BNSF’s main lines through North Dakota. I know that the Dickinson and Jamestown subs are the former NP main and like most of the NP transcon I believe they are secondary status.
I also know that the KO Sub is the primary main line. Where does the Devils Lake sub fit into all this? I know Amtrak uses it, but where is it in train count and importance compared to the other two main lines? I also don’t know if either the KO sub or the Devils Lake sub are the former GN main, was one of them originally a secondary main line?
I also want to know the history of the Brainerd Subdivision, I’m not sure if it’s an old NP or GN line. I’m pretty sure the Lakes and Grand Forks subdivisions are former GN.
And finally, the Hillsboro subdivision. It runs up from Moorhead to Grand Forks, and does it simply serve as a feeder line for trains that need to go up to Grand Forks and points west on the Devils Lake sub?
Any help and information would be appreciated. It seems redundant for BNSF to have 3 main lines across most of North Dakota. It also probably explains why the track is so rough in eastern N. D. when riding the Empire Builder, BNSF doesn’t maintain it as much due to it being a secondary main line.
When Devils Lake level was rising about ten years ago Amtrak contributed quite a bit to raise the track. Shortly after that was done, the Bakken oil boom made the line busy as a relief for the Northern Transcon. Don’t know if it is still as busy.
Since being completely rebuilt during the Bakken Oil Boom of the 2010s, the Hillsboro subdivision (Fargo to Grand Forks) and Devils Lake subdivision (Grand Forks to Surrey/Minot) has been used as an alternate main line with westbound trains operating via Devils Lake and eastbound trains via New Rockford. Higher priority trains, regardless of direction, tend to use the shorter New Rockford line (KO subdivision), and there are of course exceptions based on origin/destination.
The route through Devils Lake is the original GN (or, at the time, the St. Paul,
“Quite a bit” is a relative term, I suppose, but it was minimal compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars BNSF spent to completely redo the route from Fargo to Minot via Hillsboro and Devils Lake. And the boom was not shortly after the track raising was done; It was going full bore a couple of years before (starting in 2008). The reverse is actually true in that the vastly increased traffic as a result of the Bakken Boom was the catalyst for fixing the situation with Devils Lake (the lake). Prior to this, BNSF was holding out to get some outside money for the project knowing that (boom or no boom) it would probably happen as retaining service on the route was politically popular, regardless of party affiliation. BNSF ended up working on the project well before monies from Amtrak and government entities were in place.
The actual amount that Amtrak supposedly paid was 32.33 million dollars. This would be one-third of the $97 million that was needed to raise the track and rebuild bridges between Devils Lake (the city) and Churchs Ferry. BNSF paid a third, and the state was going to pay a third, which it di
The predecessor of the Great Northern was the Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba. As the name implies, it’s original goal was to reach Manitoba and connect with the Canadian Pacific. The decision to build west across North Dakota and into Montana came a little bit later, and was accomplished by building west from Grand Forks - today’s Devils Lake sub.
Decades later, the KO sub (aka the Surrey Cutoff aka the New Rockford Cutoff) was built from Fargo (near where the airport is today) to Surrey (just east of Minot) so that Twin Cities traffic could get to Minot and points west without having to go up through Hillsboro, Grand Forks, and Devils Lake. That cutoff then became the primary freight route line.
After the BN merger, the far east end of the KO sub was rerouted between Casselton and Fargo to use the NP route.
The Northern Pacific was constructed starting in Duluth and going west to Fargo. They later built a branch s
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t “hundreds of millions”, nor did BNSF “completely redo” the Devils Lake and Hillsboro subs. The actual cost of the capacity improvement on those subs depends a lot on how you account for the cost of installing PTC. If you say that PTC was an inevitable result of the fact that Amtrak was running on the line in 2011, then the cost of the public / private partnership work accounted for the majority of all the improvements.
Keep in mind that the $100M that was split three ways between Amtrak, state / federal funds, and BNSF funds not only paid for the track raise, but for replacing all the remaining jointed rail on the DL main line. I don’t recall the exact breakdown, but I think something like 1/4 - 1/3 of that $100M was just for new rail.
So beyond the PTC, the track raise, and the ribbon rail, the remaining capacity upgrades were:
My understanding is that the original “directional running” implemented in 2013 has largely gone away. I think most trains are back to taking the KO sub by default, but they can and do reroute things through Grand Forks when there is a reason to do so. The most common reason would be to avoid maintenance windows windows on the KO. That is a huge benefit to the folks doing track and bridge maintenance on a busy single-track railroad.
Fantastic replies, good to hear lots of history on these lines and it helps me understand the track layout and history of the eastern ND/northwest MN area.
Thanks for the insight. Thanks for your explanation. It’s the first time I had heard that the state/Amtrak money had anything to do with anything besides raising the track between Devils Lake and Churchs Ferry - especially since since the signal system had been terrorizing Amtrak trains for years due to its instability. And yes, PTC would be included in the cost because had the bridges not been raised, Amtrak (and the need for PTC) would not be there.
As the North Region Locomotive Manager at BNSF for the entire Bakken Boom, my team and I were reminded daily on the “billions” spent to upgrade the routes in North Dakota whenever the many ballast and ribbonrail trains were delayed enroute to the the construction sites (while trying to power all the revenue trains associated with the boom), but I had no specific breakdown in cost.
My group did have input on the Devils Lake versus KO upgrade question and we - along with just about everyone in operations at the time - voted for the Devils Lake route. For years prior to the upgrading of the line, the (unnecessary - just waiting for the inevitable money from outside parties) embargo of the Devils Lake-to-Churchs Ferry portion, was a sore spot. Grain from Bisbee billed to Superior and from Mayville going to the West Coast cost extra crews, additional power and car cycle time, and - especially amidst the boom traffic - congested yards like Minot (reversing direction) or Fargo (positioning to the coal connector). And of course it was all the better for the crude and other traffic on the increase at Noyes which would need to go on Hillisboro. (I remember a Corridor Superintendent telling me that the new siding at Bison was his favorite siding of all time, because there was now someplace to meet - with power switches - just outside the Fargo terminal). Just keeping this traffic out of these terminals is a huge, but largely unquantified cost. And I’m sure you know that one
The discussion of the DL Sub is interesting to me, as my son lives along that line. Matter of fact, I just spent some time along the tracks over Labor Day weekend. Traffic is light, probably averaged 3 or 4 trains during daylight but westbounds are easy to chase as they are working hard on the grade away from the Red River. I noticed that there must be a tie replacement gang in the area as there are lots of ties along the tracks and equipment was sitting just outside Larimore.
There hasn’t been much discussion about the future of the Brainerd Sub in this thread. With the decline in coal traffic and no paper mill in Brainerd anymore it seems like this line may become expendable in the future. It would be a shame for the original Northern Pacific to go away but duplicate routes across Northern Minnesota seem like a place where cuts could happen if/when coal traffic goes away. Not much else that the Brainerd is really crucial for.