Chasing the Windstorm
Milepost 1449.7 Three Forks, MT With the headwaters of the Missouri behind, the Milwaukee mainline finds aptly named Three Forks, MT ahead. For the Milwaukee Road, Three Forks was a gateway to Yellowstone Park. The more grand Gallatin Gateway Inn was constructed by 1927, however, which moved the formal Yellowstone destination down the branchline that departed the main here at Three Forks. Three Forks is also the location where the NP rejoins the Milwaukee with their own line over the Rockies. This NP line itself is of note. The line exists today, departing from the preferred mainline over Mullen Pass and rolls through Three Forks on its way to many of the same small towns the Milwaukee mainline touched. The Montana Rail Link operates the line out to a local gravel pit, and formally to Spire Rock, MT. From there, the line is mothballed and owned by BNSF for the remainder of the journey up and over the Great Divide at Homestake to Butte [1]. This was once the path of