Construction on the line began in 1886 by the Minneapolis & Pacific Railway (which later merged with the Soo Line) which intended to build a railroad out to the Dakotas to supply grain to flour mills in Minneapolis.

[2] The line starts out at CP University and continues westward through the Humboldt Yard and crosses the BNSF Monticello Subdivision just east of the junction with MN&S Spur in Crystal.

[4] As for freight traffic, the line sees many commodities ranging from grain and potash to crude oil, manifest and intermodal.

The Paynesville Sub meets the Withrow Subdivision at CP University in Minneapolis at the eastern end near Shoreham.

At its western end in Glenwood, there are connections to the Elbow Lake Subdivision to Enderlin, North Dakota[6] and the Detroit Lakes Subdivision to Thief River Falls, Minnesota.