Hinckley Subdivision
A BNSF EMD SD70ACe leads an empty taconite train through Nickerson, Minnesota.
Overview
Owner	BNSF Railway
Service
Type	Freight rail
Operator(s)	BNSF Railway
Technical
Line length	136.9 mi (220.3 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Operating speed	50 mph (80 km/h)
Route map v t e Legend to Lakes Subdivision Boylston Lakes Subdivision 24.5 Foxboro, Wisconsin Wisconsin/Minnesota border Holyoke, Minnesota 36.6 Nickerson St. Lawrence River Divide Duquette Kerrick 48.9 Bruno 57.2 Askov Kettle River 63.1 Sandstone 72.3 Hinckley to St. Croix Valley RR, old NP line 80.1 Brook Park 80.5 Mora Junction former Great Northern Henriette 91.3 Grasston Snake River 96.7 Braham 107.4 Cambridge 113.0 Isanti 119.0 Bethel 125.2 Cedar 131.0 Andover 136.9 Coon Creek Staples Subdivision Staples Subdivision

The Hinckley Subdivision is a railway line that connects the Twin Cities to the Twin Ports in Minnesota and Wisconsin. This line was originally built by the Great Northern railroad. It branches north off the Staples Subdivision At Coon Creek junction in Coon Rapids, MN, and ends at Boylston junction where the tracks run to Duluth/Superior (The Twin Ports) via the Lakes subdivision.

BNSF is the operator of the Hinckley sub. Union Pacific & CPKC also run frequent traffic via trackage rights. The CN had trackage rights in the past until it bought out Wisconsin Central Railway, which now allows them to run traffic up to the twin ports via their own route, the Superior subdivision.

Trains

The Hinckley sub mostly sees manifest, grain, coke & taconite trains. It occasionally sees potash and coal trains.

As of January 2023, this line sees around 2-5 trains per day.

Locals

The Hinckley Local runs on Mondays, Wednesdays and sometimes Fridays. It serves industries in Cedar, Cambridge and Hinckley.

Sidings

There are nine sidings on the Hinckley Subdivision. The Sidings are located in Andover, Cambridge, Grasston, Brook Park, Hinckley, Askov, Bruno, Nickerson, & Foxboro. The longest siding is in Andover with a length of 9,000 feet (1.75 miles)

Railfanning

The Hinckley Subdivision is a TWC (track-warrant controlled) line, meaning there is no way to monitor traffic on the line with the help of ATCS monitor. A scanner with a decent antenna, or a heads up from fellow railfans is your best bet for railfanning here. 70% of traffic that runs on the Hinckley sub is usaually under the cover of darkness.

Steam excursions

Steam Excursions have been hosted on this line in the past. The Milwaukee Road 261 hosted steam excursions for a few years up until the FRA mandated PTC on all locomotives that lead trains in the US. The Union Pacific Big Boy #4014 also hosted a steam excursion in 2019 that ran on the Hinckley Subdivision up to the Union Depot in Duluth, Minnesota.

Passenger service

There is currently no operating passenger service on this line. The NLX is a proposed intercity passenger route between Minneapolis and Duluth, read more about that here.