Devils Lake, ND (DVL)

Railroad Avenue and Third Street
Devils Lake, ND 58301

Station Hours

Annual Ticket Revenue (FY 2024): $352,266
Annual Station Ridership (FY 2024): 3,922

• Ownerships
• Routes Served
• Contact
• Local Community Links

• Facility Ownership: BNSF Railway
• Parking Lot Ownership: BNSF Railway
• Platform Ownership: BNSF Railway
• Track Ownership: BNSF Railway

• Empire Builder

Marty Sandoval
Regional Contact
governmentaffairschi@amtrak.com
For information about Amtrak fares and schedules, please visit Amtrak.com or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

• City of Devils Lake

The Great Northern Railway (GN) built the Devils Lake depot in 1907 at a cost of approximately $50,000. In addition to a passenger waiting room, it also contains a BNSF Railway maintenance-of-way office. The station is especially popular in the winter, when hundreds of sportsmen travel to Devils Lake for ice fishing on the largest natural body of water in North Dakota.

The GN is considered to have been America’s premier northern trans-continental railroad, running from St. Paul, Minn., to Seattle. It was formed in 1889 by James J. Hill, who orchestrated the merger of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad with the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway. The latter had reached Devils Lake in 1885, and two years later the village was incorporated. Hill holds a special place in railroad history and lore, and is known as the “Empire Builder.” Whereas most transcontinental lines were built with federal assistance in the form of federal land grants, the GN did not utilize this method.

Hill’s business acumen guided the planning and construction of the GN. Much of the upper Midwest and West was sparsely settled, so instead of racing across the continent, the GN developed the regions through which it traveled as it steadily moved toward the Pacific. This action helped settle the land and created a customer base. Hill the businessman actively sought to establish trade links with Asia, and the railroad is credited with putting sleepy Seattle on the map and transforming it into an important and powerful Pacific Ocean port after the railroad reached the West Coast in 1893.

In addition to the depot, the GN made other improvements in Devils Lake in the early 20th century. The town, which served as a passenger and freight division point, gained new machine shops, a round house and a cattle yard.

Station Building (with waiting room)