Railroaders' Nostalgia > Hi-Railing on the MILW in Montana

I scan these slides of my friend Rick Burn the other day and then asked Rick what the back story was.  Here is what he e-mailed me.  He titled it Hard work, but someone had to do it. 

This was """"toughest"""" business trip I ever took as a Milwaukee Road employee.  Holding the job of Director of Marketing Research, Grain and Food Products, I went with Charlie Brumm, a market analyst who worked with me in May 1973. 

We flew to Bozeman, MT from Chicago in May 1973 and stayed at the Holiday Inn.  The Superintendent from Deer Lodge, MT met us for dinner and I distinctly remember him asking the desk clerk what time breakfast started.  She said 6 am and the Superintendent said we will meet in the lobby at 5:55 am. 

After breakfast, dressed  in a full suits, the Superintendent and the Trainmaster in the front seat, and Charlie Brumm and me in the back seat left in the Superintendent's sedan to hi rail the Bozeman, MT to Menard, MT branch line.  Cows had priority over trains on the Menard line and Charlie, the Trainmaster and I shared in opening and closing the gates as the Superintendent drove his hi rail sedan on the branch line. The elevator we wanted to visit was at the end of the line in Menard.  

That afternoon, we all went to Three Forks, MT and I had a rental car.  The Division Engineer needed to get to Ringling later in the afternoon and one of the track supervisors needed to meet him in Ringing, but the track supervisor needed to inspect the line from Three Forks to Ringling.  Charlie and I pitched in and helped out.  I gave my rental car to the Division Engineer and we rode with the track supervisor hi railing from Three Forks to Ringling over the prettiest part of the Milwaukee Road TransCon line through 16 mile canyon.  Today, Ted Turner owns the land and it is anti railfan. 

The next day, we left Deer Lodge, MT on a westbound freight train to Alberton, MT.  Returning to Deer Lodge, we sat in the second unit.  No diesels that day, just two Little Joe Electrics.  Charlie and I commented that the seats were worth $500 apiece for the ride in 1973 dollars.

The other experience was that in 1973, Montana rigidly enforced a night speed limit of 55 MPH on I 90, but in the daytime, the speed limit was "wide open."  Several times, I got beeped from drivers behind me as I did not feel comfortable in the rental car over 92 MPH and the other auto drivers wanted to go faster. 

Charlie Brumm was a great guy in 1973 and I have lost contact with him.  Maybe he will come to light in the post.

Enjoy,
Marty Bernard
 



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/15 17:08 by MartyBernard.

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MartyBernard Wrote:
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> Cows had
> priority over trains on the Menard line and
> Charlie, the Trainmaster and I shared in opening
> and closing the gates as the Superintendent drove
> his hi rail sedan on the branch line. 

Errrr.., Marty, I'm no expert, but I think those are sheep.

Great pics of a great experience, though.

-John

John, I was not there and didn't take the picture.  Neither were you.  Rick Burn was, so he should know.  It's his story and his picture.  But since he was working for the Milwaukee Road at the time, anything was possible.

Marty Bernard

Being able to see 16 Mile Canyon via hirailer would have been a dream come true for me.  Not that many photo's were taken in there, especially the section east of Lombard between Cardinal and Deer Park and east of Maudlow in the area around Francis and Sixteen.


Allen

I'm no expert either but those critters in the pic are not cows!
What a great story.  The rarest of rare mileage.

I see you got a lot of "sheepish looks" on that section of the line..........
.........Swede.......Albany,Or........

I had a freind in high school that spent 3 summers working on a ranch in Montana
between Roundup and Billings. He said they referred to sheep as "Montana whores"

Larry Dodgion
Wilsonville, OR

Sigh....the Menard branch passed through several cattle ranches so the hi-rail group no doubt crossed paths with cattle even though one of the photos showed them passing sheep.

I hate to be picayune, as I usually am, but this cow-sheep thing needs to be straightened out, given that we railfans demand precision in describing all things railroad - rivets, horns, "F" placement on locomotives and whatever.

Now, since I was not there with Rick Burns, I can only offer a theory. His story mentioned cows having "priority", but it does not specifically reference the animals in photo, which you men have tentatively identified as sheep. Perhaps Rick could confirm that these are indeed sheep. While these sheep-like animals may, or may not have "priority" - a check of old Milwaukee special instructions should clarify this point - they certainly have the "right of way", or more accurately, they seem to be consuming the right of way. This leads me to ask, were these actually Milwaukee M/W employees in sheeps' clothing who were mowing and otherwise manicuring the line? Given what railroaders are usually forced to eat, grass (this is grass, Rick?) must have been a delightful change of diet.

EO


 

This cow-sheep discussion reminded me of a story that one of our Engineers asked to the Road Foreman. If I'm in Yard Limits running at restricted speed and hit a cow would you take me out of service. The Road Foreman said YES. Then the Engineer asked if I hit a cow out on the main would you take the Train Dispatcher out of Service? The Road foreman looked puzzled and asked why. The Engineer said who gave permission for the cow to occupy the main. This Road Foreman was a jerk and everyone like to harass any chance they got.

One of our GOOD lady engineers with a great sense of humor asked a fairly new ex-marine road foreman an airbrake question.  He answered with a resounding "YES SIR!"  Cecelia looked down for a couple of seconds, then said "Whew, for a couple of seconds I thought my tits fell off!"
G

<<> referred to sheep as "Montana whores"<<

Hey now, be nice. They might be somebody's girl friend.
Dave in Missoula (Montana)

monaddave Wrote:
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> <<> referred to sheep as "Montana whores"<<
>
> Hey now, be nice. They might be somebody's girl
> friend.
> Dave in Missoula (Montana)

Montana, where men are MEN and the sheep are running scared!

Rob

love the fence work in a suit......great posting

SilvertonRR100 Wrote:
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> monaddave Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > <<> referred to sheep as "Montana whores"<<
> >
> > Hey now, be nice. They might be somebody's girl
> > friend.
> > Dave in Missoula (Montana)
>
> Montana, where men are MEN and the sheep are
> running scared!
>
> Rob

and you weren't a polygamist if ya were legally bound by contract to more than one sheep in your harem ...

Posted from Android

Cow? Sheep? No, those are white and gold Alpacas.

SilvertonRR100 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> monaddave Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > <<> referred to sheep as "Montana whores"<<
> >
> > Hey now, be nice. They might be somebody's girl
> > friend.
> > Dave in Missoula (Montana)
>
> Montana, where men are MEN and the sheep are
> running scared!
>
> Rob

No, no, no. It's "Where men are men and sheep are nervous!"

PHall Wrote:
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> SilvertonRR100 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > monaddave Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > <<> referred to sheep as "Montana whores"<<
> > >
> > > Hey now, be nice. They might be somebody's
> girl
> > > friend.
> > > Dave in Missoula (Montana)
> >
> > Montana, where men are MEN and the sheep are
> > running scared!
> >
> > Rob
>
> No, no, no. It's "Where men are men and sheep are
> nervous!"

RIGHT!!!!

Rob

All I can say about this discussion is ewe!

Cheers,
Jack

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The other experience was that in 1973, Montana rigidly enforced a night speed limit of 55 MPH on I 90, but in the daytime, the speed limit was "wide open."  Several times, I got beeped from drivers behind me as I did not feel comfortable in the rental car over 92 MPH and the other auto drivers wanted to go faster.
****************************

Ah, yes, the pre-energy crisis signs in Montana told you to maintain a "safe and prudent speed".  A friend of mine who carried a badge clarified that one for me by saying that all four of your wheels had to be pointed in the general direction of the ground, and at least one should be in actual contact.

And no open container law, either.  Those were the days.