On Sept. 25, 2007, a Montana Rail Link local in Livingston, Mont., heads onto an old branch line that once went to Gardiner, Mont., and the north entrance to Yellowstone
National Park. The GP35s are taking four wood chip cars and a caboose (for the return back-up move) to a lumber mill about a mile south of this crossing.
National Park. The GP35s are taking four wood chip cars and a caboose (for the return back-up move) to a lumber mill about a mile south of this crossing.
Tom Danneman
Q On a recent visit to Montana I saw what appeared to be the remnants of a railroad line from Livingston, Mont., near Yellowstone National Park. Was there once a rail line there? – Richard Kelliher, Victoria, Australia
A The remnants were from a Northern Pacific branch line that went 52 miles from Livingston to the Northern Gateway of Yellowstone National Park at Gardiner, Mont. Known as the Park Branch, the Burlington Northern had abandoned all but a 1.5-mile stretch south of the main line in Livingston by 1981. Montana Rail Link uses the branch to serve a local lumber mill. – Tom Danneman
