The Great Falls subdivision is the northern half of the main line between Shelby and Laurel. At just under 100 miles it is not as long as the Laurel sub (224 miles) but packs in lots of fabulous Montana scenery. Along the way you can find scenic features such as river canyons, wheat fields, tall trestles and grain elevators. North of Ledger access becomes somewhat limited with no roads that parallel the track. This lack of roads is primarily due to the canyons used to descend to the Marias river crossing south of Naismith. The rest of the line is fairly easy to access and photograph however.
M-LAUSWE with three SD40-2s has just departed Great Falls and passes through Manchester, MT. This area is a mix of residential and agricultural.
For my Great Falls sub railfanning I chose several locations that would work well for a northbound train in the morning. The M-LAUSWE is on duty at Great Falls around 7am and usually departs at 8am so I had to work with that schedule. Unfortunately the southbound M-SWELAU usually traverses the Great Falls sub after dark so that isn’t an option for chasing. However in the summer and fall with grain running there is a good chance for a daytime southbound empty train. Of course detours help too!
Between Vaughn and Power the track climbs up a .5% grade to get out of the Missouri river valley. While the track speed is 49mph this train only made 25mph.
To cross the Teton River and Muddy Creek the railroad uses two steel viaducts. They are quite impressive since you can see them from top to bottom and from end to end unlike many of our trestles in Washington that are obscured by trees. As you drive the back roads into Collins you can begin to see them on the horizon. They look odd because if you look towards the horizon you’d never guess there is a deep chasm to cross so seeing a steel trestle seemingly crossing a wheat field looks a bit out of place. Once you arrive on the scene you can certainly see why they are needed.
The location of these trestles is highly recommended for photography not only for the trestles but for the Collins grain elevator, the Collins (CIM) grain shuttle elevator, and a couple of interesting curves. If there’s one place to visit on the Great Falls sub this is it!
Crossing the 2374′ long Teton River viaduct at Collins.
If you want a wide open spaces photo there are plenty of opportunities on the Great Falls sub. With parallel roads all you have to do is pull over to the side and point your camera at the tracks. And then there are the canyons…
Winding through the canyon between Brady and Conrad.
North of Ledger access becomes more limited. There are roads into Fowler and Naismith but there is not a way to chase trains through this segment. There are a few ranch roads around but those are clearly posted no tresspassing.
Station sign Naismith. Don’t bother with your cell phone down here!
This will be my last post from Montana as I am packing up for a leisurely 3 day trip home. Tonight there is a G-GVEVAW (Grove, MT to Vancouver, WA) grain train preparing to leave the shuttle elevator just down the road from Stanford. I’m expecting the train to head north to Great Falls tonight and then on to Shelby and the Hi-Line tomorrow. If all goes well on our trip home via Glacier Park I should see this train several times.
Technorati Tags: bnsf, stanford, montana, photography, trains, railroad, big sky country, photos
Pingback: One Unit Wonder? » Dogcaught: A Railroad Blog