Editing Northstar Line (section)

== Route ==
[[File:Nicollet Isle (4591123935).jpg|thumb|A Northstar train crosses the Mississippi River at Nicollet Island]]
At Target Field Station, the parallel rail lines of the old [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]] (north side track now BNSF) and the [[Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway]] (south side track now Union Pacific) travel eastbound past the Federal Reserve Bank, the site of the old [[Minneapolis Great Northern Depot]], across the [[Mississippi River]] on the [[Minneapolis BNSF Rail Bridge]] and then across [[Nicollet Island]]. At a [[Wye (rail)|wye]], the route turns northwest in the GN East side line, which then joins the parallel ex-Northern Pacific main line. The ex-Great Northern and ex-Northern Pacific lines are merged into BNSF and this is now the BNSF [[Northern Transcon]] (transcontinental) line.

The route travels north through the Northtown Classification Yards, over [[Interstate 694]] and makes its first stop at 61st Avenue in Fridley at the yard limit of Northtown, where it enters BNSF's [[Staples Subdivision]]. The double track line continues past the current [[Coon Rapids Foley Boulevard (Metro Transit station)|Foley Boulevard park-and-ride]] bus station, which is planned to be a future Northstar station and turns northwest at Coon Creek Junction, where the old GN route to Duluth (now BNSF's [[Hinckley Subdivision]]) splits off and heads straight north. The current [[Coon Rapids station]] is behind the Riverdale shopping center by Round Lake Boulevard and new stations were also built in Anoka, Elk River, and Big Lake.

The Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway had local services from Minneapolis to all of the cities currently served by Northstar up through the early 20th century. One Fridley station was about a mile north of the current stop, at Mississippi Boulevard. There possibly was a stop shared by GN and NP at Coon Creek Junction.<ref name="anoka-stations">{{cite web|url=http://www.west2k.com/mnstations/anoka.shtml|title=Anoka County Minnesota Railroad Stations|author=Dan West|work=Minnesota Railroad Stations Past and Present|access-date=February 11, 2010}}</ref> There were at least three stations built in Anoka over the years, and two stations in Elk River and Big Lake, with both cities having one stop for each railroad.<ref name="sherburne-stations">{{cite web|url=http://www.west2k.com/mnstations/sherburne.shtml|title=Sherburne County Minnesota Railroad Stations|author=Dan West|work=Minnesota Railroad Stations Past and Present|access-date=February 11, 2010}}</ref>