Northern Lines Railway is a shortline railroad

Shortline railroad

A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the USA and Canada...

 operating 25 miles (40.2 km) of track in and near St. Cloud

St. Cloud, Minnesota

St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 65,842 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Stearns County...

 in central Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. The railroad was formed in 2004 to operate former Burlington Northern Santa Fe

BNSF Railway

The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...

 trackage in the St. Cloud area. Interchange is made with BNSF in east St. Cloud.

The railroad operates three connected lines. The St. Joseph branch extends from the connection with BNSF in east St. Cloud westward, crosses 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...

 on the 1892 St. Cloud Rail Bridge

St. Cloud Rail Bridge

The St. Cloud Rail Bridge is a pin-connected truss bridge that spans the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It was built in 1892 by Great Northern Railway and was probably designed by the railroad. Two of the piers are stone, while a third pier is newer and made of concrete...

 and continues on to St. Joseph

St. Joseph, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,681 people, 1,120 households, and 712 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,517.4 people per square mile . There were 1,147 housing units at an average density of 616.8 per square mile...

, approximately 7 miles (11.3 km). The Cold Spring branch extends southwestward from its connection with the St. Joseph branch line in west St. Cloud, passing through Waite Park

Waite Park, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,568 people, 2,967 households, and 1,536 families residing in the city. The population density was 841.0 people per square mile . There were 3,065 housing units at an average density of 392.5 per square mile...

 and Rockville

Rockville, Minnesota

Rockville is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,448 at the 2010 census. It is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 and terminating just west of Cold Spring

Cold Spring, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,975 people, 1,116 households, and 785 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,431.1 people per square mile . There were 1,145 housing units at an average density of 550.8 per square mile...

, approximately 15 miles (24.1 km). The East St. Cloud branch extends from the connection with BNSF in east St. Cloud, crosses U.S. Route 10

U.S. Route 10

U.S. Route 10 is an east–west United States highway formed in 1926. Though it never became the cross-country highway suggested by the "0" as the last digit of its route number, U.S...

, and terminates at the Quebecor World printing plant in east St. Cloud, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km). In addition the railroad serves several customers in east St. Cloud via trackage rights on BNSF track.

The railroad handles approximately 10,000 carloads annually consisting mainly of aggregates, building products, chemicals, coal, food products, lumber, manufactured goods, paper, scrap, steel and stone.

The railroad is owned by Anacostia and Pacific Company, Inc and has its local headquarters in the old depot at the rail yard in central St. Cloud.