The Past

 

In Gallatin County, MT, within the confines of 16 Mile Canyon lies Maudlow.  The Milwaukee Milepost here is 1417.2.  Like the railroad running through it, Maudlow is a ghost of what was.  It is marked by a two level school house and a few old buildings that stand within the canyon, staring out at the beautiful hills that surround the old stop along the transcon.  


The days have become weeks, months, and years in Maudlow.  The gas pump in town, outside the abandoned general store, still reads 98 octane for $0.32 per gallon.  Those were the days before unleaded gas, and the days when electricity flowed between the tall uprights that spanned the right of way.  There would be many many changes in the decades to come: the relative constant of the Cold War would end, the economic recession that saw the end of many railroads would lift, there would come more cycles of booms and busts.  All the while, the clouds above would roll along casting their shadows on the hills below just as they always have.  Dust to dust.


Comments

Jean Humphreys said…
Sure wish this awesomely beautiful corridor could be turned into a rail trail. Most interesting posts....
11/08/2016 08:13:00 PM
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