Western Railroad Discussion > Railroading in a Big Land

Everything in Montana is Big! They have a Big Sky, Big Mountains and Big Lakes and Rivers. That makes it all the more fun to railfan there.

1. Amtrak #8 crossing the Two Medicine River Bridge. When I arrived in the morning, the mountains were virtually bare. Within a couple of hours a storm front covered the mountains with a top layer of snow.

2. The C-SCMSUD climbing Parkman Hill at Parkman, WY. A pair of helpers are shoving on the one DPU locomotive to push the train up the 1.25% ruling grade between Ranchester and Parkman, WA. The train is only about 5 miles from the Montana Border at this point. Some types of inclement weather lend themselves to photography, such as this light misty rain and fog with light cloud cover. But I'm sure the engineer is not enjoying the loss of traction on slick rails.

3. The revived Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Rwy pulls loads of copper ore from the mine in Butte to the UP/BNSF interchange in Silver Bow, MT.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/21 00:41 by funnelfan.

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A couple more views of a empty grain shuttle on the 1970 line change around the Libby Dam via the Flathead Tunnel.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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Geez Ted, great photos.  The image of #8 is spectacular.  Congrats.
Tim Costello

All winners Ted. That's a great variety of fall colors as well. Sad to see the Portland section of the Builder down to three cars.

Bismarck Bill

Really NICE Montana series with great scenery!

Larry

Nice shots, Ted!

RC Lundgren
Elgin, TX

Great photos. These and others like them are often much better than the ones routinely published in the fan print media. They make my TO subscription worthwhile.

Love #2. Weather so bad that it's good. 

Nice pics!!  I also REALLY like Pic 1!!