Yesterday’s Great Falls Tribune reports that a coal mine is being explored south of Stanford in Judith Basin County. My mother-in-law and her friend are both excited about this as the prospect of a new big business in the county would bring in more jobs and more tax revenue to the area. Stanford and many parts of the county could use an infusion of cash to fix up roads and deal with miscellaneous items that have them behind larger cities in the region. Right now a new industry in the county sounds like a good deal but who knows how it will be received when more serious work starts.
A coal seam appears out of the side of a hill west of Lehigh.
In terms of railroading the article indicates the mine would be south of Stanford. After going up town my mother-in-law’s friend found out the mine would be near Lehigh. Lehigh is located a few miles southwest of Windham, MT. As the article indicates the Great Northern did mine coal at this location and there was a branch from the mainline at Windham. If you look closely at an aerial view you can clearly see evidence of the branch leaving the main just west of town and heading out towards Lehigh. There are also some concrete structures still remaining where coal was loaded.
Remnants of the coal operation at Lehigh Montana
With many years of planning and development to go there are many details to work out including where a junction with the Laurel sub would be and the route the line would take. Just like Signal Peak north of Billings this should be and interesting project to watch.
