by Steve Eshom on August 29, 2010
Leaving some place you really enjoy is never easy. I’ve often considered what it is about Montana that makes it so hard for me to leave. I’ve come to the conclusion there is so much I love about Montana that I can’t a single item that makes it so intriguing to me. What I love about it is not just Stanford, Noxon, or Laurel, or mountains or plains, or wide opens spaces, or big sky, or the people, or my family legacy. It is some odd combination of these items that just doesn’t exist anywhere else. I don’t know exactly how to describe the chemistry but it is there for me once I cross the border. 
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with Washington, Oregon, or Idaho, they are just different. Maybe Washington represents the realities of life for me too much and that makes it less magical? Whatever it is I can’t wait to get back to Montana again. 
Until my next visit I can enjoy the photos I took and dig through the memories of photos I didn’t take to allow myself to look back on this place fondly. 
by Steve Eshom on August 27, 2010
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.
by Steve Eshom on August 26, 2010
Here’s a few miscellaneous photos from around the Central Montana…
Grain is ready and so is the train. August is harvest time for grain and the harvest is in full swing in Central Montana. With some dry days later this week farmers will be at it from sun up to sun down. Grain trains are being positioned and one is expected at Grove on Friday.
Downtown Stanford. Another busy day is in progress in Stanford, Montana with folks coming to town do their business. Most residents don’t even notice the M-SHMLAU as it blasts through town.
Benchland depot. The Benchland, Montana depot is no longer next to the track but is still in existence which is not all that common out here.
Moonrise over Benchland elevator. Like many small elevators in Central Montana the Benchland elevator still stands but is unused. Farmers now take their grain to the large elevators at Grove, Moore, and Carter where BNSF supplies full trains for loading.
by Steve Eshom on August 25, 2010
The Laurel sub doesn’t follow rivers like many railroads do. Instead it crosses them. There are some significant rivers it crosses like the Musselshell, Missouri, and Judith but there are many like Skull Creek, Sage Creek, and Hauk Coulee that are not as notable. Yesterday while chasing the M-SHMLAU with Haley I decided to photograph the train in a couple of these drainages.
Sage creek eventually turns into something more significant and forced the Milwaukee Road to construct a large structure to get across. The GN got a bit luckier because it is closer to the headwaters and was able to cross on a short trestle but in trade it had to climb out of the Sage Creek valley on both sides. Despite appearances the grade here isn’t over .5% and the SHMLAU is blasting up grade at nearly 40 mph. The track curves to the left just past the locomotives and reappears above the two red boxcars. The top of the elevator above the cement cars is up at Benchland and is at the top of the grade.
Between Hobson and Sipple is Hauk Coulee. Hauk Coulee itself isn’t that significant however it does join with the Judith River downstream from the BNSF. The Judith too forced the Milwaukee to build a large structure to get across but again the GN got off easy with a three span plate girder bridge and some culverts for tributaries. Today the Milwaukee is operated by the Central Montana but not as a through route. The GN is still in place with regular freight traffic. So who made the best decisions about crossing drainages?
by Steve Eshom on August 24, 2010
The Laurel sub may be a mainline but it is not the transcon when it comes to the track structure. Right now it takes most trains nearly the full 12 hours to go the 225 miles between Laurel and Great Falls thanks to various permanent and temporary slow orders. No big deal though since this railroad isn’t used to speed trains from one point to another.
Yesterday I chased a train north from Moccasin to Stanford. I passed the train at Windham and expected it would arrive in Stanford within 10 minutes. What I forgot about was the 10 mph slow order in the tunnel south of town. I headed to Geyser for my next photo and had made the 15 minute drive (at 70 mph) before I heard the detector just south of Stanford go off. I waited around Geyser for more than 45 minutes before I heard the train say they were approaching Geyser….at 10 mph. Yep, more 10 mph slow orders. The good news is the section crew spent most of the day between Stanford and Geyser with a tamper and regulator so hopefully some of the 10 mph slow order were lifted.
M-SHMLAU passes through Stanford at dinner time.
Rough track.
5pm Update: All the tamping and regulating has paid off. The section crew lifted .4 of a mile 10 mph order this afternoon. Commerce will be back at high speed in Central Montana!
