A quartet of Montana Rail Link SD70ACe helpers return from Elliston, MT to Helena after moving a westbound unit grain train over Mullan Pass (cut-in mid-train). Herds of cattle are not an uncommon... (more)

On October 10, 2023, Montana Rail Link’s 844 local proceeds downgrade between mileposts 7 and 8 north of Harrison, Montana, with seven cars of grain from the Harrison Elevator Co. Leading the tr... (more)

Passing two horses and a resting longhorn on its way to switching customers on the Fifth Subdivision, Montana Rail Link’s 844 local clatters through Three Forks, Montana, on October 11, 2023. Lo... (more)

Montana Rail Link’s 844 local has just made a trip up the branch to Harrison, and is now dropping down a 2.2% mountain grade toward the Six Subdivision junction at Sappington, in a vast Montana ... (more)

The conductor minds the first of two cattle gates that the Harrison local negotiates as it approaches it's namesake destination. A wintry mix approaches from the mountains.

Blue thunder
One of the visceral treats of Montana Rail Link’s route over Mullan Pass is listening to a heavy unit grain or coal train assault the hill from a location near the top of... (more)

Slowly reentering civilization, the Logan Local claws up the 2.2% grade as it crosses over the first of two ancient wooden trestles on the last part of the trip to Harrison. Note the "repairs... (more)

MRL's "Night Gas" accelerates out of a work window near Alberton, MT crossing Fish Creek trestle on the 4th subdivision.

Montana Rail Link’s gas local has just departed the facility at Pipeline at Thompson Falls and crosses a bridge over the Thompson River near Woodlin in the scenic Clark Fork Valley on the mornin... (more)

A quartet of Montana Rail Link SD70ACe's help a westbound BNSF ethanol train across the Continental Divide on Mullan Pass at Blossburg,MT.

Montana Rail Link’s 844 local backs up a spur with tank cars for a petroleum facility at Logan, Montana, on June 26, 2017. Milwaukee Road’s line to Bozeman crossed here on an overpass, and thi... (more)

Montana Rail Link’s Laurel to Missoula manifest freight passes by the abandoned right-of-way and bridge over the Missouri River of Milwaukee Road’s Pacific Extension main line at the townsite ... (more)

Drone Shot - Helena yard full of Montana Rail Link power, BNSF train pulls up to the depot with MRL SD40-2's that paying back horsepower hours to BNSF as the local works the yard and the Helper po... (more)

Several Montana Rail Link locomotives line the backshop of MRL’s Livingston Shops on May 7, 2012.

An assortment of Montana Rail Link locomotives are in various states of repair, being stripped for parts, or being stored in the railroad’s Livingston Shops on May 7, 2012. Up front is former Cl... (more)