The Midway Subdivision or Midway 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 Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

line in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

and

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

. The line is part of BNSF Railway's Northern Transcon which runs from

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

and

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. This is former Great Northern Railway trackage, and now forms the southern set of BNSF tracks running through the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

. The companion route running slightly to the north is the

St. Paul Subdivision The St. Paul Subdivision or St. Paul Sub is a railway line running within the state of Minnesota. The line originates in Minneapolis and continues through neighboring Saint Paul, Minnesota and on into Saint Paul's southeastern suburbs along the Mi ...

, former

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, w ...

tracks. The Midway Subdivision hosts about 24 trains per day as of September 2015. This line has access to an

intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from sh ...

facility at BNSF's Midway Yard. The

Minnesota Commercial Railway The Minnesota Commercial Railway is a short line railroad in the United States. This railroad operates out of the St. Paul area with service to Minneapolis, Bayport, Hugo, Fridley and New Brighton. It is considered a switching and terminal ra ...

has multiple connections to this line, and

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 ...

's Midway station is on Minnesota Commercial tracks just to the south of the Midway Yard. In the west, the Midway Subdivision carries the Northstar Line

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

service as it exits the Wayzata Subdivision where Target Field station is located. The Wayzata Sub meets the Midway Subdivision at Minneapolis Junction, where the

Milwaukee Road 261 Milwaukee Road 261 is a class "S3" 4-8-4 " Northern" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady, New York in July, 1944 for the Milwaukee Road. It was used for heavy mainline freight and passenger work ...

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

is housed. The Northstar Line does not have any stops on the Midway Subdivision, but continues north through the Northtown Yard and has its first stop at Fridley at the southern/eastern end of the Staples Subdivision.

References

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External links

BNSF Subdivisions
BNSF Railway lines Rail infrastructure in Minnesota