Enduring Gifts
It was May 23, 1961 when the final Olympian Hiawatha, train 15, departed the station at Missoula, MT. Located at MP 1641 and several miles beyond Ravenna, the Milwaukee carefully follows the Clark Fork River through the city as it winds through different compound curves in and out of town. These images were taken in the mid-2000s, captured on Kodachrome and a trusty Pentax LX. The final #15 can be seen here , courtesy of the Montana Historical Portal and Montana State Library. There were no electric locomotives that day and seemingly no Skytop Lounge at the rear. The Superdome endures to the final run, however, and acknowledges the status of these passenger trains as a symbol, even to the end. Looking East from the station, the path of old overhead wires is obvious The Clark Fork under Big Sky blue And the end for the Olympian Hi was earlier than many. Other western railroads maintained their top passenger train until the dawn of Amtrak and often hoste...