The Dakota Northern Railroad, headquartered in Crookston, Minnesota, is co-owned by KBN Incorporated and Independent Locomotive Service.

The Dakota Northern Railroad was created in January 2006 after the BNSF Railway decided to lease approximately 72 miles (116 kilometres) of branch line trackage to KBN Incorporated and Independent Locomotive Service for an initial 10-year period.

The line extended from Grafton, North Dakota to Morden, Manitoba in the early 20th century, but was abandoned to the current terminus of Walhalla in 1936.

[1] In its filing, DN stated that the line was embargoed on March 18, 2009, because of an unsafe bridge just south of St. Thomas.

[2] The line north of the embargoed bridge has been pulled up and the remaining approximate 3 miles is used for railcar storage.