I spent a while tonite following the long abandoned Milwaukee Pacific Extension in Montana using Google’s Satellite view. The ROW between Harlowton, MT and Butte, MT is highly visible for most of the distance between these towns. There are a few faint/built over sections.
How much is drivable? Do you need a high clearance 4x4? How friendly are the locals to outsiders interested in the railroad? Would landowners get suspicious of a Jeep parked along the RoW for a night or two (if I find a truly dark place on a clear night, I’d like to take star pictures).
JB: If you are contemplating a drive over the abandoned Milwaukee Road right-of-way, there are some issues to keep in mind such as
stock fences that ranchers have installed,
tunnels that are fenced off,
gullies and washouts, plus
trestles and bridges that are either dangerous to cross or filled with debris that could be dangerous to your tires - just to name a few.
In October 1980 I followed the line as best I could on public highways from Seattle to several stations east of Harlowton. The track was still down then and a lot of the buildings were still up, but the sight of dark signals and rusty mainline rail was pretty depressing.
About 15-years later I followed the line among Bozeman, Three Forks, Butte, Deer Lodge, Missoula, and Alberton - again by public highway. Along the way I found enough to keep me entertained and was awed when I found the brick substation building still standing at Gold Creek, Mont.
Unless you have 10-ply tires / E-rated and an aggressive heavy tread, combined with a decent suspension, don’t even try it. (rock broken tires, ballast cuts and overheated tire chords/separation with all the mechanical action caused by slag and granite ballast will have you changing tires faster than Sherman marched to the sea.)
A half bottle of Slime in each tire wouldn’t be a bad idea either…[:O]
Yes, I too would consider it would be fun / interesting to be able to drive with a capable vehicle over miles of abandoned RR ROW, and the ex. Milwaukee is a fine example, thru the mountains, etc…
Have often read they had achieved a good low grade ROW for their passage thru and over the Rockies.
But, I understand all the obstacles that are mentioned above would probably nullify one being able to do that.
That is one item that makes “Finished Trails” interesting to me…Being able to see just where the surveyors went to get the RR route thru.
The early locating engineers did very, very well given the constraints put on them by the financiers who, too often, just want to get from A to B as cheaply as possible. Many subsequent line changes are the result of those schemes. In fairness, many line changes resulted from no longer having to depend on a water source, or from developement which changed the parameters.
Present new line construction looks to efficient future operation rather than “cheap and quick” and so intial construction costs are a secondary concern. One technique is the ‘straight and level mile’ computation which compares any design with the ideal of a straight and level railroad.
Another is to eliminate undulating grades by spending more in cuts and fills to achieve a continuous ascending or descending grade for the greatest practical distance. While the gradients may vary within the general slope they have no reversal from ascending to decending. This mitigates the slack action and resulting damage to rolling stock. Very long vertical curves further mitigate the slack action even though more cut or fill is required.
Viable, yes. Recomended, no. At least not without a good co-pilot [:-^]. But if you do decide to roll that way and need one, I guess I will volenteer [swg]
I have no clue about the condition of the MILW r/w in Montana, but I can offer something anyway. Obviously there will be washouts and the possibilty of tunnels fenced off, but as a degreed forester who has driven many, many miles on Montana logging roads and have seen firsthand the ballast the MILW used (near Missoula), the road should be drivable, albeit in a 4X4 for reasons cited below. The MILW used what looked like river rock (rounded edges all around) to me and not crushed rock like most main lines, so that should not present any tire problems. However, I doubt whether the ballast will be anywhere near level due to tie removal and probably will resemble a washboard rather than reletively flat, and there may be high ballast berms to climb over. Some of the line in the Bitterroots has been converted to trails so that may also affect drivability. I’ve been over some pretty nasty logging roads that were steep, narrow, with no bridges and poorly graded, and in my opinion the MILW main should be OK unless its washed out, overgrown with brush, fenced off, or otherwise blocked.
In any case, give it a shot and have fun. But be prepared for HOT weather and lots of wind and bugs. It should be an experience I’d like to to do sometime too.[:)]
The ROW is blocked between Lombard (tunnel 9 actually) and Ringling, it is marked private property, and the ranchers do not want you around. This goes for the rest of the ROW in Montana, respect the signs and ranchers property, your not the first person who wanted to do this. You can drive on a lot of it by some easy access from I-90, I have, it’s not a big deal, its simply a gravel/dirt road. Areas around Butte, Deer Lodge, Gold Creek areas down to Missoula people use it for fishing access, even across several steel truss bridges. You can see a lot form I-90, so much that you may not need to actually go on the ROW. But again, avoid areas with do not trespass signs and gates. For an excellent pictorial concerning MILW Ghosts in Montana, click the link below.
In the fall of 1987, well into the abandonment of the Puget Sound Extension, I had just completed a business trip in Butte, Mont. That evening my colleagues and I celebrated the success of our trip with many a vigorous round of personal jousts with the forces of spiritous frumenti.
On the way back to our hotel, I noticed something remarkable in the distance: it was a westbound passenger train decorated in an orange and maroon color scheme with what appeared to be two bi-polar locomotives on the point. Bringing up the markers at the end of the train was the most unusual and yet beautiful observation car I had ever seen. I would have investigated what I saw further, but alas the train was speeding away and I never could have caught it (particularly given the condition I was in at the time).
Somehow I think it was all an illusion - not the passenger train, mind you, but the locomotive consist. Bi-polars, after all, were generally restricted to Washington State.
In regards to “driveable” parts of the ROW- there are not as many as you may want. As part of the MRHA 2009 meet in Butte we were given updates on the accessability of the old Milwaukee right-of-way in the area (and also at the 2006 Lewiston meet). There is a small part of the route you can drive over Pipestone Pass that is part of a forest service road, but the east side of the pass up to the Vendome Loop is not driveable because the old Fish Creek trestle has been removed by the landowner (something to do with idiots bungee jumping off it and insurance liability). Pipestone Tunnel, the Blacktail Viaduct, and Vendome Loop can all be seen from the highway and local roads.
Down into the Jefferson Canyon it was last reported as accessable over to Three Forks. Three Forks and up to Lombard (where a section of the bridge over the NP was wrecked by a cable laying train some years back and is now missing) is all overgrown and not driveable. Beyond Lombard don’t even try- the entire route through Sixteen Mile Canyon and Eagle’s Nest Tunnel is on ranchland owned by Ted Turner (yes that Ted Turner) and a few other folks who do not allow access to the old grade. A special exception some years back was given to the members of the MilWest society who were able to take a bus ride up to Eagles Nest, and later for the filming of “A River Runs Through It”, but I’ve not heard of anyone doing it since. (legally that is)
Much of the ROW through to Harlowton is also speckled with fences and washouts on private property- there are several spots out there where the old block signals still remain on the grade- but must be photographed at a distance from the highway. Due to the issue of the land now being owned by many different private individuals it is not likely to be able to drive the actual ROW- but by using nearby highways and state roads you can follow the grade at a managable distance along most of the route (save Sixteen Mile Canyon, which is quite remote
No, “G.S.,” 1987 was the year I meant to type. Where I was coming from was this: The “Cessation of operations” process culminated in March 1980. After that date the abandonment process started.
The question you have to ask yourself is this: How, late at night, was I able “to see” a westbound passenger train, decorated in the traditional Milwaukee Road colors, one which was being pulled by what appeared to be two bi-polar locomotives?
The first paragraph of my June 26th message should suggest an answer.
I’ve driven much of the Milwaukee Road in Western MT. There are still some stretches east & west of Missoula that are passible in a regular car & are not gated. The Bearmouth area is one of these. But I-90 is only a stone’s throw.
I’m very fortunate to have driven east bound from Avery ID on the MILW climbing toward St Paul Pass tunnel. It was years ago when the abandoned ROW had become the main road between Avery & Wallace for half the distance. The trestles were paved by then, but were only 1 lane. Log trucks & motorists just waited their turn. As one might imagine, it’s the most ruthlessly awesome road trip I’ve ever taken, even tho I couldn’t go around the loop. A new road has since been built & the Hiawatha Trail takes over the rest.
It may still be possible to drive between Tarkio & Fish Creek west of Missoula. That stretch is hidden from the Interstate, & 20 years ago it was another awesome road trip.