Question: What American Class I railroad that ran from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, was formerly where Tionesta is today?

Context articles: Merriam Park Subdivision
West St. Paul, Minnesota
Minnesota State Fair
History of the Irish in Saint Paul
Great Northern Railway (U.S.)
St. Paul Subdivision
Education in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Tionesta, California
Edward Phelan
Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad

The Canadian Pacific Railway Merriam Park Subdivision or Merriam Park Sub, also known as the Short Line, is a railway line in Saint Paul, Minnesota, which runs from Pig's Eye Yard and the CP River Subdivision in the east to the Short Line Bridge over the Mississippi River in the west, where rails continue as part of the Minnesota Commercial Railway.
 It was named for John L. Merriam, a Minnesota banker and politician.
 Completed by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad in 1880, it shortened the route Milwaukee Road trains took between downtown Saint Paul and downtown Minneapolis.
 Previous trains would exit Saint Paul and follow the Mississippi River southwest until crossing at Fort Snelling where they would follow the path of today's Hiawatha Avenue (Minnesota State Highway 55) and METRO Blue Line toward the Milwaukee Road Depot.
 Originally built as an interurban route, it was eventually converted for heavy rail traffic because the Twin City Rapid Transit streetcar system had taken over the local transit market.
West Saint Paul is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, immediately south of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and immediately west of South Saint Paul, Minnesota.
 The city's misleading name comes in part from the fact that it lies on the west bank of the predominantly north-to-south Mississippi River.
 A previous City of West St. Paul, incorporated in the late 19th century, was situated in what is now called St. Paul's Lower West Side.
 According to the West 7th/Fort Road foundation, St. Paul annexed the West Side, and was incorporated for two reasons: "to aid law enforcement—criminals could escape St. Paul authorities by crossing to the West Side and Dakota County—and to eliminate the Wabasha Street Bridge tolls which were inhibiting development on the West Side."
 The current West St. Paul split from the western half of South St. Paul, and was incorporated in 1889, just south of the city of St. Paul.
 The population was 19,540 at the 2010 census, growing by 135 since 2000.
 West Saint Paul is known for its 2.5-mile retail strip along Robert Street.
The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota.
 Its slogan is "The Great Minnesota Get-Together."
 It is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance.
 It is also the second-largest state fair in the United States by total attendance, trailing only the State Fair of Texas, which generally runs twice as long as the Minnesota State Fair.
 The state fairgrounds, adjoining the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota, are in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, midway between the state's capital city of St. Paul and its largest city, Minneapolis, near the Como Park and Saint Anthony Park neighborhoods of Saint Paul.
 Residents of the state and region come to the fair to be entertained, exhibit their best livestock, show off their abilities in a variety of fields including art and cooking, learn about new products and services, and enjoy many different types of food—often on a stick.
 The fair runs for twelve days from late August into early September, ending on Labor Day.
 The Minnesota State Fair was named the best state fair in the United States in 2015 by readers of USA Today.
Irish in Saint Paul, Minnesota have played an integral part in the founding and the growth of the city.
 The first Irish to settle in Saint Paul were three soldiers from Fort Snelling who were natives of Ireland.
 They became the first settlers in the area of downtown Saint Paul.
 Helped by Archbishop John Ireland, thousands of Irish emigrated from Ireland and Eastern cities in the United States to Minnesota; the majority settled in Saint Paul.
The Great Northern Railway (reporting mark GN) was an American Class I railroad.
 Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad.
 The Great Northern's (GN) route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S.
The St. Paul Subdivision or St. Paul Sub is an 30.9 mi railway line running from Minneapolis through neighboring Saint Paul, Minnesota and on into Saint Paul's southeastern suburbs along the Mississippi River.
 It is a segment of BNSF Railway's Northern Transcon which runs from Chicago, Illinois to Seattle, Washington.
 Between Minneapolis and Saint Paul themselves, this route runs on former Northern Pacific Railway trackage, and now forms the northern set of BNSF tracks running between the two cities.
 The companion route running slightly to the south is the Midway Subdivision, though the St. Paul Subdivision is the busier set of tracks, hosting about 59 trains per day as of April 2009.
 It is the second-busiest rail line in the state, after the segment of the Staples Subdivision between Fridley and Coon Rapids.
Saint Paul, Minnesota contains many educational institutions.
 A number of educational "firsts" have happened in Saint Paul.
 Hamline University, the first and oldest college in Minnesota, was founded in Saint Paul in 1854.
 In 1991 Minnesota became the first state in the United States to pass legislation allowing the existence of charter schools.
 The following year, the first charter school in the nation, City Academy High School, was established in Saint Paul.
 The oldest library in Minnesota, the Minnesota State Law Library, was opened in 1849.
Tionesta is an unincorporated community in Modoc County, California.
 It is located on the former Great Northern Railway Bieber Line, 2 mi northwest of Timber Mountain, at an elevation of 4278 feet (1304 m).
Edward Phelan, also Phalen or Felyn, was an early settler of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
 Phelan was born in approximately 1811 in Derry, Ireland and later became, along with John Hays and William Evans, one of the first settlers of Saint Paul.
 Phelan was later accused of Hays' murder, the first ever in Saint Paul, but was acquitted.
 He was indicted for perjury a year later but fled to California before he could be prosecuted.
 Phelan was killed by his companions in what they describe as self-defense before he could reach California.
 Many locations in Saint Paul, Minnesota are named after Phelan as a result of his early land claims.
 Phelan's name was spelled variously and as a result most locations are named Phalen and not Phelan
The Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad (also known as the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad and the SP&P) was a shortline railroad in the state of Minnesota in the United States which existed from 1857 to 1879.
 Founded as the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad, it was the state's first active railroad.
 It went bankrupt, and the state changed its name to the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad.
 The SP&P went bankrupt as well.
 It was taken over by James Jerome Hill and others, who used the railroad as the basis for building the Great Northern Railway.