at Evergreen, Montana. Soon to be displayed in Kalispell.
She is ex-Great Northern Railway #657, but in her real life
never actually wore the "Big Sky Blue" paint scheme:
Wearing faded and well used "Big Sky Blue", is Great Northern Railway
box car #319499. (Now scrapped.) Sandpoint, Idaho, in 2013:
This is a former camp car. Located at Marion, Montana.
It was last used when the stock yards there were still
operating, which was nearing seventy years ago.
Note- There are three more located at Somers, Montana:
Statue of John F. Stevens, located at Summit (Marias Pass), Montana.
Noted GN civil engineer, namesake of Stevens Pass, Washington.
Humor? The statue plaque states the elevation at Summit as 5216 feet.
Just across the highway, behind the statue, BNSF's sign shows 5125 feet!
The water tower at Essex, Montana. In use to this day:
This one fools many people, including locals and newcomers. It is
currently serving as a museum at Troy, Montana. It was never the depot.
This was the crew office/locker room from Troy. Similar in appearance
to the old depot's exterior design, it was adjacent, but separate:
The collapsed east portal of Haskell Pass Tunnel, Montana. You can
easily see one reason why they abandoned this route. From this point, on
eastward to the former station of Lucerne, tracks ran down a gully which was
essentially in the middle of a creek. That stream would freeze solid in winter,
or drift full of snow. Then it would flood every Fall or Spring! The face of
this hill would slide frequently. The line was out of service for weeks & months:
From their Somers, Montana tie plant, fireless teakettle #S-2
These days she is displayed on the former property of old tie plant:
From their Somers, Montana tie plant, fireless teakettle #S-1
She survives as a display at the "Miracle of America Museum,
which is located in Polson, Montana:
Summer of 2008, Great Northern Railway Ballast Regulator #24534.
The Northwest Railway Museum, Snoqualmie, Washington:
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Bridge 4 in Ballard (Seattle), Washington. Built by the Great Northern Railway,
now BNSF Railway. Located at the west end of the Lake Washington Ship Canal,
between Shilshole Bay & the Hiram Chittenden Locks. I can recall when the
counterweight, north end, once sported a beautifully painted GN "Rocky" logo.
Summer of 2008. Those black specks are circling sea gulls:
I have seen several such applications of former switch stands, around
northwestern Montana. Only grabbed this one view near Smith Valley, Montana:
The now being forgotten "Bruck". Back when she was first restored and mounted
by the depot in Whitefish, Montana. She was originally used by the Great Northern
Railway to shuttle train passengers between Kalispell and Whitefish. These days
she has an ugly iron fence blocking the view, and is slowly deteriorating as
those who lovingly brought her back, are now passed on. Nobody cares any more:
NW3 #181 on display by the depot at Whitefish, Montana.
I took this not long after restoration, back in the late 1990's.
Note: For some odd reason, at this angle both "1"s are barely visible:
Their former electrification substation at Skykomish, Washington:
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