When I first booked this trip, I was originally going to visit James and then return home. I then realized that if I get a 15 day rail pass I could also go to San Francisco, a city I have always wanted to visit, for about the same price. Later I realized if I upgrade to a 30 day rail pass, I could ride all four of the cross-country Amtrak routes. This is what I eventually did, and planned it so I would spend most of my free time in Montana, as that was the whole point of this trip anyway.
I thought with two weeks out here in the middle of nowhere, I might get bored. I was wrong. I leave Montana in two days, and I don't know where the time went. Because of car problems earlier in my visit, I was not able to do some of the things I wanted (go to Wyoming and South Dakota, go railfanning, etc.) but I still had a lot of fun. James and I did some work on his models. We walked down to the yard a few times and he showed me what goes on there. When the car was fixed, I drove to Miles City and chased his train back to Glendive from there.
Miles City is an interesting place. On one end of town is the old Northern Pacific, the route James works on. The other side of town has the old Milwaukee Road. The town is sandwiched between the two railroads. The Milwaukee Road basically built Miles City up from the dirt. Miles City was a crew change point for them and they had a big car shop there. Northern Pacific just passed through the town, as Glendive and Forsyth were the crew change points and Miles City was too close to both places to have another crew change point there. The Milwaukee Road is long gone through Montana except for a few places. The tracks and car shops in Miles City now belong to BNSF. BNSF built a connection between the two lines just east of town so cars that need repair can go to the shops on the old Milwaukee Road. Outside of town, the Milwaukee Road tracks disappear. The right-of-way is now a dirt road called, you guessed it, Milwaukee Road. Both depots in town still exist. The Milwaukee Road depot is now the school system office building, the Northern Pacific depot is all boarded up.
On Friday, I drove to Miles City to chase James's train back to Glendive. I had five places in mind to meet the train: the depot in Miles City, the Milwaukee Road crossing east of Miles City, the Highway 253 crossing in Terry, the town of Fallon, and the Marsh Road crossing in Glendive. I left Glendive armed with my camera, my scanner, and some food for the road. I got to Miles City at about 3:15. Listening to the scanner, I knew there would be a little wait before James came through. There is no siding in Miles City, so nothing can meet there. A westbound coal train had a track warrant through there, and an eastbound coal train and James's eastbound M train were in sidings west of Miles City. After about 20 minutes, the westbound coal train came through. A little while later, I heard the two eastbounds get their track warrants. James's train came through at about 4:20. Once his train got past the depot, I hit the road again. I got on Valley Road, a road that follows the railroad out of Miles City. I would take a turn off of that road that would put me on Milwaukee Road, which crosses the tracks to get to the old right-of-way. The speed limit there is 70, so I knew I'd make it. However, the person in front of me was only going 40, and I was not able to pass him for a while. I finally did and caught up with the locomotives...just as they blasted across Milwaukee Road. I kept going, hoping I'd beat the train to Terry.
On my way to Terry, I passed the eastbound coal train I saw in Miles City. I knew I'd make it to Terry on time. I got off the interstate and found a good spot to watch the trains. The eastbound coal train came through, and then James's train followed. I heard a westbound coal train get clearance to Terry. I hoped it wouldn't show up until James's train was already there, because where I was standing, the siding was in front and I wanted a good photo of James's train. James's train showed up and picked up three loads at the grain elevator in Terry. The train pulled out again onto the main as the coal train showed up. The two trains passed each other and went on their way. However, by the time the coal train cleared the crossing, James's train was long out of sight. Because of this, I did not make it to Fallon on time, and drove straight to the Marsh Road crossing in Glendive. No sooner did I get there, I heard James's train get a track warrant from Colgate siding to Glendive. Ten minutes later, his train rolled through. This was my favorite spot, so of course the sun disappeared behind some clouds two minutes before James got there. Oh well, it's close by, I'll have to go down there again today or tomorrow to get some better photos. But with that, my chase was over, and I drove back to the apartment. James told me later that he had a trainee that day who had never heard of railfanning before, and thought I was a creepy stalker. Needless to say, James did not tell him that I am his brother.
Yesterday we went to Billings. It is three hours west of here but still in the eastern part of the state. We went there for some modeling supplies. There is not much in Glendive, not even a Walmart. That being said, the closest place to get any modeling supplies, even something as basic as paint, is Billings. We got some supplies there and headed back to Glendive. The trip to and from Billings was more interesting than Billings itself. Outside of Billings is Pompey's Pillar. This is basically a big rock sticking up out of the plains near the Yellowstone River. This is the last evidence of the Lewis & Clark expedition. Willliam Clark and other members of the expedition signed their names on this rock, and their signatures are still visible 200 years later. You can also climb to the top of the rock and see everything around. After the Lewis & Clark expedition, General Custer ran into trouble here. His army was camped near there and swimming in the river when some Native Americans, perched on top of Pompey's Pillar, started firing on them. The Little Bighorn Battlefield, where General Custer and his army met their fate, is nearby as well, but further out of the way, so we did not have time to stop there. It was interesting seeing these places that I had only heard about in history books in school.
That being said, the Empire Builder just started running between St. Paul and Havre once again. I am scheduled to get on the train in Williston, ND on Tuesday morning. I have been here for nearly two weeks and I don't think I am ready to go quite yet. But such is life. I will leave here and go on to whatever other adventures await me on this trip. Next stop: Davis, CA on Thursday.
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