Western Railroad Discussion > Action on Mullan Pass in MT

I managed about 5 hours yesterday afternoon to see one of my fav spots in MT....Mullan Pass, heading over the Continental Divide just above Helena, MT.I was rewarded with 5 westbounds, and good light to boot.
1. First up was the Laurel-to-Missoula with 4 units leading and 5 helping up the hill, seen here approaching Austin
2. The helper set pushing hard at East Autin with an empty grain coasting to a stop
3. Train full of windmill bases, just barely into the grade at Tobin, with the State Capitol looking over the scene
Lothar
Corinth, TX

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4. The windmill train passing through Austin
5. 33 minutes later, making a robust 11 MPH, the windmill passing over Austin Trestle.....easy to beat the train from Austin to this location, with plenty of time to spare
6. Instead of waiting up on the hillside, I decided to drop down to pace the 2 grain trains I knew were coming, when I was surprised by this stack/vehicle train at the West Austin road crossing
Lothar



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/12 13:05 by lotharb.

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7. The first of the 2 grains, here approaching Austin
8. 4 of MRL's finest cut into the train, leaning into the big 180 degree curve at the west end of Austin
9. The 2nd grain, seen passing through the signals guarding East Austin
Lothar

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10. Finally, the grain trains helper set makes the appearance, with 3 big ACE's, and 2 dimunitive (comparetively speaking) SD40's
Lothar

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You really nailed all three of those wind turbine train shots...well done.

I really like your first photo. No graffiti is visible on any of the freight cars!


You should consider submitting that first photo for publication in the Montana Rail Link calendar. The deadline for the 2013 calendar has just passed, but you could enter the image into the 2014 calendar, if you are interested.

http://www.montanarail.com/news/CallforEntries2013.php



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/12 05:54 by RuleG.

The big trestle is Austin Creek trestle, Greenhorn is around the corner from the rear of the train..
Great shots, lot of action.

Greenhorn.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/07/12 08:51 by SD45X.

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NICE set of pics!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing.

When I saw your great photo of the BNSF 7001 the first thing that came to my mind was NP F9A 7001 which ran on the same line as the BNSF 7001.

So today I went out to Providence Hill in Central Washington and what was the only westbound I saw all day? BNSF 7001 with the grain train, still on the former NP!

Brian Ambrose
Renton, WA