This Great Northern Railroad line originally started out as the Dakota Central Railroad between Mission Hill and Volin in 1873, representing one of the first railroads in South Dakota territory. Eventually, the remainder of the line was built by the GN between Yankton and Sioux Falls by 1893.

The DCRR sold its "island" of track between Mission Hill and Volin to the Chicago & North Western Railway in 1900, who granted trackage rights to the GN. The GN ultimately purchased the track from C&NW in 1961.

The line was abandoned in stages under the Burlington Northern Railroad: first between Yankton and Irene in 1981, and the remaining line into Sioux Falls the following year.

Here is a rough timeline of the route:

        Yankton    Mission Hill      Volin    Irene    Sioux Falls
==================================================================
1873                 |--Dakota Central-|
1893      |--- GN ---|--Dakota Central-|------- GN ---------|
1900      |--- GN ---|----- CN&W ------|------- GN ---------|
1961      |-------- Great Northern Railroad ----------------|
1981      |........... abandoned ...............|-- GN -----|
1982                                            |.abandoned.|