River Subdivision (Canadian Pacific Railway)

River Subdivision
Amtrak's Empire Builder passes through Maple Springs in 2009.
Overview
Status	Active
Owner	Canadian Pacific Kansas City
Locale	Minnesota
Termini	Saint Paul La Crescent
Service
Type	Freight, passenger
Operator(s)	Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Amtrak
History
Commenced	1865
Completed	1872
Technical
Line length	124 mi (200 km)
Number of tracks	1–2
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map mi Merriam Park Subdivision 407.4 St. Paul Yard 402.5 Newport St. Paul Subdivision 392.1 St. Croix St. Croix Subdivision Hastings Rail Bridge 391.0 Hastings 370.7 Red Wing 362.0 Frontenac 353.8 Lake City 341.2 Wabasha 338.0 Midland Junction to Mankato 325.0 Weaver 316.0 Minnesota City 313.1 Winona Junction CP/DME Waseca Subdivision 310.1 Tower CK UP Winona Subdivision 308.2 Winona 303.0 Homer 293.0 Donehower 288.1 River Junction West Tomah Subdivision Marquette Subdivision Amtrak Empire Builder Amtrak Borealis

The River Subdivision or River Sub is a railway line along the Mississippi River that runs approximately 124 miles (200 km) from Saint Paul, Minnesota south to La Crescent. U.S. Highway 61 closely parallels the route between La Crescent and Red Wing. The line is operated by the Canadian Pacific Kansas City through its subsidiary, the Soo Line Railroad. BNSF Railway operates a complementary St. Croix Subdivision which traces the eastern side of the river in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The two routes share some track between Saint Paul and St. Croix Junction, near Hastings.

History

The line's origins trace to the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad Company, which started building a line from Saint Paul southward along the river in 1865. The line was completed to Minnesota City in 1870, and made a junction with the Winona and St. Peter Railroad (under control of the Chicago and North Western Railway) in 1871. In December 1871, the river line was sold to the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, and it continued to be operated by the Milwaukee Road for over a century. The Milwaukee Road had a crossing in Winona and immediately made use of their new connection to Saint Paul. They extended the line south to La Crescent in 1872 and built a new bridge over the river to La Crosse, Wisconsin.

While most of the route has been used by passenger trains since it first opened (the southern crossing was primarily used for freight), one of the most famous trains to use it was Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha, which began service in 1935. Infrastructure for automatic cab signaling had been installed in the 1920s or 1930s, allowing the railroad to operate trains at high speed along the route with a good level of safety. The Hiawatha ran at up to 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) along the river for brief stretches, but the train really made a name for itself by regularly running at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) through Wisconsin on its way to Chicago.

Current usage

Today, Amtrak's Empire Builder and Amtrak's Borealis follow the Hiawatha's former route between the Twin Cities and Chicago, and stops at Red Wing and Winona along the River Sub.