BNSF subdivision traffic in MN/North Dakota - Trains Magazine

BurlingtonNorthern2264

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?

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.

BurlingtonNorthern2264

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.

The Northern Pacific was constructed starting in Duluth and going west to Fargo. They later built a branch southwest from this line starting in Staples and going southeast to the Twin Cities. Today, this branch plus the original line from Staples west to (almost) Fargo is the Staples Sub, while the original line east of Staples is called the Brained Sub.

Footnote: technically, what is now the Staples Sub includes some GN track as well. The NP and GN had adjacent, parallel tracks from northeast Minneapolis to the near where the St. Cloud, MN Amtrak station is today. So Main 2 between these locations is former GN while Main 1 is former NP.

Footnote to the footnote: actually, there's a shortish stretch of Main 1 near Becker, MN that is a actually the former GN track. That's because a portion of the former Main 1 was removed at one point as a cost saving measure, leaving the former GN track as a single main line. Then when the second main was reinstalled in 2015, a portion was constructed on the opposite side of the single track (former Main 2, former GN track) from where the original Main 1 track (former NP) had been. That made the former single main (former Main 2, former GN) into the new Main 1, while the newly constructed track became the new Main 2.

BurlingtonNorthern2264

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?

Mostly. But in addition to traffic off the Lakes and Devils Lake subs, Grand Forks also processes significant traffic from the CP and CN interchanges at Notes, MN, much of which then goes down the Hillsboro sub towards Northtown.

Another way to look at it is that the Hillsboro Sub is part of a north / south route that stretches from Winnipeg to the Gulf of Mexico - the only such north / south route between the front range of the Rockies and the Mississippi River.

BurlingtonNorthern2264

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.

The track in eastern North Dakota sometimes gets rough due to nonexistent drainage and week soils. The Hillsboro Sub is located on the alluvial soils of the incredibly wide Red River floodplain. The Devil's Lake sub goes through the equally flat former Lake Agassiz basin, again on silty sediment over a hundred feet deep. These soils are all very susceptible to frost heaves, in an area where the frost line is usually assumed to be around 8' deep.

And I'm not sure why you assume the KO sub, which has many of the same issues, would give you a better ride quality.

Ride quality did improve dramatically for the Empire Builder when the remaining jointed rail on the Devils Lake sub was replaced with ribbon rail in 2013. This was part of the public-private partnership that others have referred to in this thread.

As for having three mainlines: eastern North Dakota produces a lot of ag-related traffic. Each of the three mainlines there has its own on-line industries AND its own network of branch lines. There's really no way to consolidate the flows of local traffic. The only part that's at all redundant is the Devil's Lake sub, which was briefly disconnected as a freight mainline from 2009 - 2013. But even then, only 15 miles was removed from service. The remainder was needed to serve profitable branch lines.

Dan

(I'm a BNSF employee, but these views are mine, not BNSF's.)