The Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 Merriam Park Subdivision or Merriam Park Sub, also known as the Short Line, is a railway line in Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

, which runs from Pig's Eye Yard and the CP River Subdivision in the east to the Short Line Bridge

Short Line Bridge

The Short Line Bridge is a truss bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was originally built in the 1880s and upgraded a few years later by Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and was designed by American Bridge Company.The bridge is entirely within...

 over the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 in the west, where rails continue as part of the Minnesota Commercial Railway

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 terminal and switching line. It is based out of a roundhouse on Cleveland Ave. in...

. Completed by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad in 1880, it shortened the route Milwaukee Road trains took between downtown Saint Paul and downtown Minneapolis. Previous trains would exit Saint Paul and follow the Mississippi River southwest until crossing at Fort Snelling

Fort Snelling, Minnesota

Fort Snelling, originally known as Fort Saint Anthony, was a military fortification located at the confluence of the Minnesota River and Mississippi River in Hennepin County, Minnesota...

 where they would follow the path of today's Hiawatha Avenue (Minnesota State Highway 55

Minnesota State Highway 55

Minnesota State Highway 55 is a highway in west-central, central, and east-central Minnesota, which runs from the North Dakota state line near Tenney and continues east and southeast to its eastern terminus at its intersection with U.S...

) and Hiawatha light-rail line

Hiawatha Line

The Hiawatha Line is a light rail corridor in Hennepin County, Minnesota that extends from downtown Minneapolis to the southern suburb of Bloomington. It was formerly known as the Hiawatha Line named after Hiawatha Avenue. Major connections on the line include the Minneapolis-St...

 toward the Milwaukee Road Depot

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed

The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Depot Freight House and Train Shed , now officially named The Depot, is a historic railroad depot in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St...

. Originally built as an interurban

Interurban

An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...

 route, it was eventually converted for heavy rail traffic because the Twin City Rapid Transit

Twin City Rapid Transit

The Twin City Rapid Transit Company , also known as Twin City Lines , was a transportation company that operated streetcars, and buses in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota...

 streetcar system had taken over the local transit market.

Passenger trains continued to use the Short Line into Minneapolis until 1971 when the Hiawatha

Twin Cities Hiawatha

The Twin Cities Hiawatha was a named passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , and traveled from Chicago to the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The original train takes its name from the epic poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...

stopped service with the formation of Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

. Amtrak's Empire Builder

Empire Builder

The Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route and busiest daily train, carrying more than 500,000 travelers annually since 2007. Overall, it is the railroad's 10th-busiest line. Before...

continues to use the eastern portion of this line today, but the train exits the subdivision to the north into Minnesota Commercial Railway trackage to reach Midway station

Midway (Amtrak station)

Midway Station is the Amtrak train station in Saint Paul, Minnesota, so named after the Midway area which is roughly halfway between the downtowns of St. Paul and neighboring Minneapolis. Its Amtrak station code is MSP and serves as the only intercity train station for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul...

 in Saint Paul. Amtrak is expected to return to using the Saint Paul Union Depot

Saint Paul Union Depot

The Saint Paul Union Depot was the main train station in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Saint Paul Union Depot Company controlled of St. Paul trackage and terminal facilities, including the depot building...

in 2012, but will likely keep routing trains the same way.