ESSEX, Mont. — LOGE Glacier, the former Izaak Walton Inn beloved by railfans for its location adjacent to BNSF Railway’s Northern Transcon route and Glacier National Park, will close next month because its parent company is in financial distress.
LOGE Camps is slated to close all its operations, the Flathead Beacon reports. The LOGE website lists six other hotels in Washington, Colorado, and Montana. Other properties have already closed. Employees at the Essex property were informed by email that their employment “is expected to conclude on or about March 6, 2026,” the newspaper reports.
LOGE purchased the property, which includes a main hotel building, cabins, and cabooses and an F45 locomotive converted to lodging, for $13.5 million in December 2022 [see “Montana’s Izaak Walton Inn is sold,” Trains.com, Dec. 16, 2022]. After a prolonged remodeling, the facility reopened under its new name in September 2024. Today (Feb. 15) was one of just four nights on which the hotel’s website shows room availability between now and the closing date; the others show the lowest available rate ranging from $157 to $201.
The Beacon reports emails show the company’s board found in November that its CEO had hidden details of some financial dealings, and as a result its real estate portfolio “was in significant distress.” It subsequently decided to end operations at its remaining properties.
The inn, opened by the Great Northern Railway, is served by Amtrak’s Empire Builder. LOGE is only the fourth owner of the inn since it opened. The future of the facility is unknown.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
My wife and I spent a couple memorable nights in the F45 locomotive suite while it was still the Izaak Walton Inn in 2016. We arrived and departed on Amtrak, of course. I hope that some responsible party purchases it and makes it successful again.
An interesting note is that the employees gathered on the front porch and waved at the Empire Builder each time it passed by.
Private equity and hedgies doing its thing, leaving wreckage behind. USA!USA!#1! Congratulations!