MILW Ghosts of the North Montana Division

Grain, livestock, chemicals, copper concentrates, machinery, gypsum products, other typical freight by rail.

Actually the ballast was ballast. Thirty years of neglect make it seem otherwise. Wind, rain, snow, wind, rain, snow, hot, cold, hot, cold. Takes a toll fast without maintenance. Believe there have been a couple of small earthquakes. Earth subsiding, etc.



Boxcab E50

 

Much appreciated, amigo--a ton more to come! And I'm still sore from that hike...

 

I drove the ROW about a mile-2 miles, before ending at the trestle. Even if your vehicle could, I still wouldn't advise driving over that old wooden trestle approach! It is drivable from Mckinnor rd-clear to Peck & Lacey rd. Just need high axle clearance, a lot of nerves, and a few keys to some gates...

 

Kurt-

That's the Pentrex video. Tape 2. What you see there, is between Lewistown, and Harlowton. Where Hemi is exploring, is Lewistown-Great Falls, Compass east and south of Great Falls.

:teeth:

Boxcab E50

 

Maybe someday I can explore that too...

 

Continuing our eastbound journey!

Looking west again:


Closer to the rocky cut:


Looking west back at Red Coulee Trestle:


At the mouth of the rocky cut, looking west again:

 

Finally, that rocky cut--strangely, this is the only place I got buzzed by a yellowjacket; both east and westbound....


Looking back west back thru that cut--would have been a great shot from atop that cut:


Looking east of that cut, at some remnants of strutures:


An old telephone box--I checked, it's all gone. Not a milepost to be seen, either:

 

The first collapsed structure:


Opposite view of the same:


Old trestle bents--what was here back when??


An old abandoned structure--looks like a truck dump:

 

Opposite view of last structure:


At last, a TUNNEL!


Ruins of an old Telltale laying in the grass:


Red Coulee Tunnel 6 west portal:

 

Only thing in that area would have been Belt Creek Spur.



Boxcab E50

 

Must have needed it badly, to build a short trestle to hold it all up..
What about the truck-dump structure? Used to load coal for steam engines? At least, that's my best guess as to what it is. Just how would you get a truck in there, other than hi-rail?
I'm thinking the collapsed structure is similar to the intact one. Would there have been a water plug here, and the structure held the tank? Would the telephone box been located at a milepost? Was was standard practice for locating phone boxes?

 

Red Coulee Tunnel 6 is slightly reverse curved:


The view at Tunnel 6's east portal:


Just outside the tunnel, Red Coulee Tunnel 6's east portal


From the middle of Belt Creek Trestle, we see the hill Red Coulee Tunnel 6 bores thru:

 

And I turn 180*, and fire a shot of Belt Creek Tunnel 5:


Looking north from Belt Creek trestle:


Looking south:


Belt Creek Tunnel 5 west portal:

 

Belt Creek Tunnel 5 east portal--tunnel is rifle-bore straight, and overlooks Tunnel 6 and Belt Creek trestle as well:


Looking thru Tunnel 5, across the trestle, and into Tunnel 6:


A wider shot:


Looking east again, at a large concrete retaining wall:

 

Looking east of the retaining walls at some more deep cuts:


Looking west from the first large cut:


And east again:


These cuts are large!

 

Looking west thru a large cut:


Further thru the cut, into a flat area (!!), looking west still:


A slightly wider view of the same:


Whoa! It's all... ..Gone.....
Amphitheatre Tunnel 4's west portal ruins:

 

Tunnel 4 was daylighted, and the lining has been collapsing over time--looking west:


And looking at what little is left at the east portal:


Interesting view of the exterior of the lining:


The east portal of Tunnel 4 is nearly destroyed, but it's not on the ground....