Hello folks. I don’t frequent this side of the forum much but have been contemplating a drastic move in modeling from New England to Mullan Pass.
I need a rundown of MRL operations over Mullan Pass and in the city of Helena.
How do the LM and ML trains work? Do their cars originate from BNSF run through trains in Missoula and Laurel or do they come off MRL long distance trains from the system terminuses? Do BNSF trains even set out cars in MRL yards like Helena or do they operate purely run-through (albeit with MRL helpers)?
2.Like the above questions, do the cars for Helena come off the LM and ML, or do they come off other MRL mainline freights, or BNSF trains, or some combination?
3.How are switching duties in Helena handled? It seemed that the smelter on the east side had its own switching power.
4.Other Helena switching isn’t handled by the LM and ML, right, but by local switchers ?What is the industrial base in Helena?
How does Helena’s yard work? Is the main purpose for tacking on and taking off helpers, or more for classification, or a good mixture?
I’m considering modeling from the smelter through Helena Yards up Mullan pass to Blossburg.
Thanks for your help, sorry for all the questions.
[quote user=“railroadyoshi”]
Hello folks. I don’t frequent this side of the forum much but have been contemplating a drastic move in modeling from New England to Mullan Pass.
There is an MRL group over at Yahoo Groups with active discussions going on.
I need a rundown of MRL operations over Mullan Pass and in the city of Helena.
How do the LM and ML trains work? Do their cars originate from BNSF run through trains in Missoula and Laurel or do they come off MRL long distance trains from the system terminuses? Do BNSF trains even set out cars in MRL yards like Helena or do they operate purely run-through (albeit with MRL helpers)?
BNSF trains are operated by MRL crews. While they do not commonly do any set outs and pick ups at Helena they are rebuilt at Laurel or Missoula if Laurel is busy and sometimes set out Missoula traffic from the rear of the train. The ML and LM trains handle the short cars for Helena.
2.Like the above questions, do the cars for Helena come off the LM and ML, or do they come off other MRL mainline freights, or BNSF trains, or some combination?
The only MRL mainline freights are the ML and LM. BNSF through trains set out cars for Helena or Garrison at either Laurel of Missoula. Then these cars are folded into the next ML or LM for furtherence to the proper destination.
3.How are switching duties in Helena handled? It seemed that the smelter on the east side had its own switching power.
Helena has assigned switch engines and a couple of locals working the outlying industries such as those in Montana City to th
Thanks for the response. I joined the MRL Yahoo Group last night and have been searching through for answers to my questions.
Thanks for your responses to my questions. They have definitely helped a lot.
The Conoco facility is the tank farm just south of the yards, correct?
About how long ago was the smelter shut down? Was it before the advent of the SD70ACes (I know most people hate them, especially for driving the SD45s out, but I do have a fondness for them)? I remember some picture of a red switcher labeled ASARCO servicing the smelter.
I am very okay with taking a heck of a lot of modeler’s license and adding the helpers at the yard instead. But I’ll definitely take a close look at Helena Junction to see how the trackage would need to be set up. I might choose to move the Helper station to Blossburg as well since it seems to be a major passing siding, but I would like to find a way to incorporate Garrison into my plan.
I would think that the need to remove cuts for local switchers and 840,841 from the ML and LM would be enough to keep the yard going. But no one will come after me with an axe if I through in an intermodal terminal on the side, will they?
What traffic uses the line from Helena to Great Falls? BNSF has a line out of Laurel to Great Falls, so I can’t imagine that there is much.
I’ll try to get my current plan up soon, see how it can be improved.
Thanks for the reply. That’s sort of what I made it out to be, since the overpass for the Great Falls line out of Helena is seperated from the MRL main by development, and I can’t imagine them letting that happen for low value land unless the line is unused (Though the other connection seems to be in place?
There used to be a BN train from Great Falls to Helena daily and then a couple of times a week before the washout. BNSF seems to be holding onto the tracks to aviod environmental clean up along the line required if the abandon it and also for possible corridor use though this seems unlikely. The track is curvy and slow and has pretty light rail. Traffic between Great Falls and Helena is now routed via Laurel.
There is also a scrapper in Helena which ships a car or two of scrap metal from a track just west of the depot at Helena. There is also some garbage containers moving from Livingston westward.
After the BN merger the GN line through Helena towards Boulder and on to Butte was cut and the former GN trains were run on the NP tracks via the interchange connection at Helena Jct. The diamond was removed. Later the tracks to Boulder and Butte were removed and all the Butte traffic went via Mullan Pass and Garrison.
Helpers are still added to trains at the cross overs just in front of the depot so doing that on the layout is still a protype operation.