Western Railroad Discussion > MRL Adventure

Went up to Bozeman, MT for a few days (first time ever), mainly to take in the northern parts of Yellowstone NP and connect with a new-found relative, but heck, the MRL is right there! From our room at the Holiday Inn, we heard PLENTY of trains and could just barely see them from the window. On Sunday August 25th, we headed over to Livingston on the way to Gardiner and Yellowstone.

#1 - An SD70ACe/SD40-2XR/SD70ACe helper set with #4405 on the end eases an eastbound into Livingston yard. He cut off and a Fred was attached to the rear of the train, which headed east.
#2 - The Northern Pacific Monad graces the corners of the beautifully restored Livingston station. There is a seasonal museum there with many great displays of NP, art, etc.
#3 - On the east end of town, we found SD70ACe #4311 waiting to head out on the main line with the freight we had seen in #1.

Now I was not traveling with a scanner, so I relied upon signals and my (failing) railroad operating intuition to decide that there must be a westbound train coming in soon.

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#4 - Here comes the BNSF westbound with GE C44-9W #5373 leading.
#5 - The conductor of the MRL train performs the roll-by. (Well, he was there before I cropped the photo!).
#6 - I then expected the MRL eastbound to get out of the siding and was looking forward to hearing those EMD's accelerate, but after a short time the signal changed to green and an eastbound train led by BNSF ES44C4 #6653 appeared. A little general freight, a little intermodal and he was on his way.

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Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/19 14:11 by icancmp193.

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OK, now it was time for that MRL train to go! But not, as the eastbound signal changed to green again and we were treated to a coal train led by GE ES44C4 #6640.

#7 - Here comes the 6640 alongside the MRL train.
#8 - He really started pouring it on and it was an impressive display of accelerating GE power.
#9 - GE ES44AC #6166 was the DPU as the coaler got out of town.

I then waited a while longer for the MRL train to get going, but it just didn't happen and we needed to get down the road to Gardiner. But 4 trains in about an hour and a quarter was pretty good!

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/19 13:52 by icancmp193.

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Coming back through Livingston on August 28th, we caught another SD70ACe/SD40-2XR/SD70ACe helper set in the terminal, visited the museum, and watched two eastbounds roll through the station area.

#10 - SD70ACe #4400
#11 - SD40-2XR #262
#12 - SD70ACe #4401

We then headed over Bozeman Pass and out to Belgrade for an appointment. Saw 2 trains over the Pass and 4 more while in Belgrade, all eastbounds. In total, 8 trains in less than 3-1/2 hours! On my home turf of the BNSF Gateway Sub, I would be ecstatic to see 6 trains in one day! We really liked Montana! (Should probably return in the winter).

TJY
(Back on TO after a short absence)

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/19 14:03 by icancmp193.

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Heard there's a big boom on million dollar houses in Bozeman, can't build them fast enough.

Drove through in early May and was impressed with heavy rain and high water in broad rivers. Just not used to that, detoured to the north to get back to simple snow. Lot's to see though.
t4p.

+ Great stuff.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/19 17:32 by TCnR.

There are no conductors on MRL only engineers and switchmen working towards promotion.

On the hill north of the roundhouse there is another museum with a dispatcher board on display inside and Warren McGee's caboose outside.

Great series!  I'm glad your first trip to the area yielded so many good images!