Lost Rail

Sunset along the branch.  A final look before returning to the Milwaukee's mainline.

Today, the mainlines that work west from hubs like Chicago seem to share a common thread: heavy rail and lots of trains.  The right of way is well manicured, the ballast seemingly clean and shaped uniformly for endless miles that click by beneath the steel wheels.  Today's railroads have become efficient point to point haulers which share another commonality as well:  branch lines that used to traversed the countrysides like a spider's web have vanished.   Many of these lines were divested in the 80s and 90s as companies took advantage of the Staggers Act and sought to rid themselves of low-profit, low-density rail lines.  Some continued on as small short line railroads, others as modest regionals.  Although some of the branch lines have survived the years, the numbers are undeniable: since the total US rail miles peaked in the early part of the 20th century, nearly half have been removed [1].   There is something special about a branch line...

 As the old main vanishes into the private lands that are out of bounds for the old truck and I, our venture turns south along Dry Creek Road and towards the bigger Montana city of Belgrade and a meet with I-90.  The gravel road winds through the arid Montana landscape as the shadows grow longer and the sun dips ever lower in the summer sky.  As years drift onward, even the memories of that turn south and gravel road seem to slowly fade away.  But planted firmly in my minds eye is the arrival at Menard, Gallatin County, MT.    At Three Forks the Milwaukee branched from the mainline and headed east toward Belgrade along what is now the I-90 corridor.  The NP mainline to Butte did the same (and still does) though the Milwaukee branch has long vanished.  Heading north and into some agricultural areas, Menard stands as the furthest most point on this long abandoned branch.  Decades upon decades have passed since the last 40 foot boxcars f...

A simple gate blocks the path west 1417.4 miles from Chicago.  The path laid out by surveyors and engineers more than 100 years ago was one that crossed 5 mountain ranges, rain shadows and rain forests, wheat fields and desert badlands, and is now one blocked by a simple fence and tubular steel gate.  The transcon path proceeds from here toward another crossing with the Missouri River at Lombard, MT.  This is private land, inaccessible to most travelers who venture this way.   Between Maudlow at MP 1417 and Lombard at MP 1430 the railroad winds its way every closer to the Missouri River headwaters.  The Belt Mountains pay it company as do old names with no places like Deer Park and Cardinal.  The ghost town of Maudlow is the gateway to these last few miles through this mountain range, and it is here that we turn south just for a time to meet the railroad further west. On this day, the quiet times at Maudlow find the ancient school house over...

In years past it was easy to spot the fading yellow hopper cars or boxcars that still proclaimed, "America's Resourceful Railroad" as they meandered North American rails.  Some were subject to the occasional over-painting that covered the slogan or even the name of the old railroad itself.  Still, to the careful observer, the Milwaukee cars were an interesting and notable addition to any train rolling by. The yellow color selected by the Milwaukee was the same as that used by the Chessie Railroad, so-called  "Federal Yellow."  It was a significant departure from the boxcar reds or grays that the railroad had used so often before.  It was distinctive then, and remained so long after the railroad disappeared from its passes to the west coast.   In the year 2015, the old yellow cars are harder and harder to spot.  In many cases, these cars have aged out of the expected 40 year life span, and are likely to be increasingly rare.  Many miles...

  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 ...

Further east than the Yellowstone and more imposing than the Missouri, the Milwaukee started its journey west along the shores of a vast lake.  How different from where we find the Milwaukee's mainline here.   Carl Sandberg called Chicago, "The City of Big Shoulders."  Others know it as the Windy City, and many a cold and wintry day has felt the devastating chills of driving Lake Michigan winds.  The Resourceful Railroad knew Chicago as Milepost 0. When this series of posts started in Eastern Montana, at MP 1080, how different the landscape looked.  The badlands of Montana and the Yellowstone River provided the gateway to the abandoned Lines West.  Then from the arid Badlands to the Musselshell river and the more fertile ag country to the west.  Now, in the midst of the run to the Rocky Mountains, the railroad finds itself along the shores of a different body of water.  Unlike the Yellowstone River crossings of giant steel bracings and...