The Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railway was authorized in 1879 to build a railroad from the Eastern border of Minnesota to Minneapolis.[1] In 1878, it obtained the re-organized West Wisconsin Railway, which had built from Hudson, Wisconsin to Elroy, Wisconsin.[2]
In 1881, it obtained the re-organized St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad, from its railroad junction in Le Mars, Iowa north to St. Paul.[3][4] This trackage is currently part of the Union Pacific Railroad route from St. Paul to Sioux City, Iowa.
Also in 1881, its rights were granted to a new railroad organization, in a merger with the North Wisconsin Railway, to the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway.[5][6][7] This route is also currently part of the Union Pacific, and is the track from the crossing of the St. Croix River at Hudson, Wisconsin to East Minneapolis.