Elevators and Gateways
December 19 has recently past, another day of the year that has come and gone as quickly as all the others. It marks a significant day for the Milwaukee Road, however. On December 19, the Road filed for its final bankruptcy, just before the holidays in 1977. 35 years ago now. Just like the days, the years seem to slip by too quickly as well. This is Ryegate, MT - 1306 miles from Chicago's Union Station. Throughout the past year the wanderings posted on this blog have slowly moved across the state of Montana from Terry, at MP 1080, to the small little town of Ryegate. Elevator row still stands here, and it's not hard to imagine a mainline of heavy rail running through the grasses that lie just to their north. The picture looks west toward the next division on the Milwaukee's Lines West: the Rocky Mountain Division. The next Milwaukee stop made on these pages will be Harlowton itself where the famous electric locomotives roamed. Extens...