The Wayzata Subdivision or Wayzata Sub is a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line that runs about from Willmar to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Currently operated by BNSF Railway, this was part of the Great Northern Railway's transcontinental line from Minneapolis to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. Today, BNSF's Northern Transcon travels up the Staples Subdivision instead, which is a more direct route to Fargo, North Dakota. West of Target Field station the Wayzata Sub sees about 4-6 trains a day, consisting of manifest, grain, and ethanol traffic. The Wayzata Sub also occasionally sees other commodities such as coal and oil trains, and can sometimes receive intermodal or

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

reroutes when needed. U.S. Highway 12 closely follows the Wayzata Subdivision. At its western end in Willmar, there are connections to the Morris Subdivision to

Breckenridge, Minnesota Breckenridge is a city and county seat of Wilkin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,430 at the 2020 census. Breckenridge's twin city is Wahpeton, North Dakota. It is part of the Wahpeton, ND—MN Micropolitan Statistical ...

and the Marshall Subdivision to

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...

. At Garretson, South Dakota a wye track goes to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The line meets the Midway Subdivision in Minneapolis at the eastern end. Some Great Northern passenger trains ran along this line, though service was cut back to just the ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...

'' upon the formation of

in 1971. Service to the Minneapolis Great Northern Depot stopped in the late 1978, when trains were shifted to Midway station in

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. The ''Empire Builder'' changed to its modern routing along the Staples Subdivision in late 1979 when the ''

North Coast Hiawatha The ''North Coast Hiawatha'' was a streamlined passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle, Washington. Operating from 1971 to 1979, the train was a successor to the Northern Pacific Railway's ''North Coast Limited ...

'' ended service. There wasn't any passenger service on the line from that time until November 2009 when the

Northstar Northstar may refer to: * Polaris, a star Arts and entertainment * Northstar (band), an emo band from Alabama * Northstar (rap group), a rap group affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan * "Northstar", a 2019 song by XXXTentacion from the album ''Bad Vi ...

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

line began operation. The commuter train's southern terminus at Target Field station is at the extreme eastern end of the line. The

Cedar Lake Trail Cedar Lake Trail is a , shared-use path in the U.S. state of Minnesota, from downtown Minneapolis to the neighboring suburb of St. Louis Park. The trail begins at its eastern trailhead in downtown Minneapolis and continues west to Minnesota Sta ...

bicycle route (and its continuation, the Hutchinson Spur) runs parallel to the Wayzata Sub from St. Louis Park into downtown Minneapolis along former Great Northern and Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway right-of-way. The proposed Southwest Corridor light-rail line will briefly parallel the Wayzata Subdivision from the vicinity of Lyndale Junction to Cedar Lake Junction. Once in a while, the ''Empire Builder'' today will use the old routing when the Staples Sub is out of service, most recently in February 2022, when a derailment in Frazee, MN caused the train to traverse its original route through Minnesota once again.

References

{{reflist

External links

BNSF Subdivisions
BNSF Railway lines Rail infrastructure in Minnesota