Montana Western Railway (subject line changed from "Eastern Montana RR"....

[MudHen_462]

Has anyone ever heard of the Eastern (or East) Montana Railroad that
was operational in the early to mid 1900's ? I remember seeing a photo
of an old coach and a 2-6-0 setting next to a string of GN cars.... but
cannot remember what site I saw it on, and all "searches" have been
blank !

Thanks,
IronGoat

[jrbarney]

IronGoat,
I've not heard of it. But I did a search at the "fallen flags" railroad site and found nothing there under either East or Montana. So, I did a Google search and found the Montana Historical Society Web site:
http://msl.state.mt.us/lisd/library-hist.htm
Think you'll need to contact them, unless someone can suggest a good book on Montana railroad history. That you should be able to borrow on an "Inter Library Loan" at your local library.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[arbfbe]

There was a Montana Western Railroad that ran between Conrad and Valier in Montana that made connections with the GN. That name was resurrected for a former NP/BN line running betweeen Butte and Garrison. There was no Eastern Montana or Montana Eastern that I know of.

[arbfbe]

I have done some more research and found that the GN line between Snowden, MT to Sidney, MT was built as the Montana Eastern RR. That is not to say that there ever was any equipment lettered for the ME RR. It appears the railroad was sold to or operated by the GN as soon as construction was complete. They had to build a supstantial steel lift bridge over the Missouri River just south of Snowden to protect river shipping to Ft Benton even though there were no boats plying the river at that time. The connection at Sidney was with the NP branch out of Glendive. There is still a sugar beet refinery and natural gas shipment in LPG tank cars out of Sidney. BNSF has a switcher/local at Sidney that makes a daily trip to Snowden and a local from Glendive that makes two or three trips a week.

[MudHen_462]

Guys, thanks for the replies on my Montana Eastern thread.... but I stand corrected , it WAS the Montana Western Railway. I have seen photo's of that gas-electric (# 31), but more recently I came across a photo of a 2-8-0 locomotive with Montana Western markings, and the MWRy inventory number (# 5) . It was listed as having been purchased by the MWRy from the Great Northern (it was formally GN # 544) , and the photo was taken at Great falls, MT on 9/18/51.

I have been told that the MWRy had a total of 3 steam locomotives, 2 gas-electric's, and 1 gas car. (the gas car operated between Conrad and Valier, MT. during the 1940's.

I want to see if I can find more information regarding MWRy's "steam" locomotives and any other operational data..... but it has been tough sledding so far (I guess that is the fFUN part, huh ?) Thanks again....
Bob / IronGoat

[jrbarney]

Bob,
Here's a link to the one Montana Western Railway photo at the "fallen flags" Web site:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/misc-m/mwrr300ags.jpg
Good luck with that faded paint job on the 300tonner.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[MudHen_462]

Thanks, Bob.... that's one more on the list.

[arbfbe]

From the book "Encyclopedia of Western Railroda History, Volume II" by Donald Robertson, the Montana Western operated between Conrad (GN connection) and Valier from 12/31/09 until it was abandoned on 12/31/69.

The roster with the listing is for the following equipment
1 4-4-0
5 2-8-0 Brooks 2137 8/92 xGN 478
10 2-6-0 Brooks 2409 11/93 xQWR&N
20 gas Brill 21544 2/23 xSCR 1941
31 gas St. Louis 5995 11/25
100 B-B BLW 76106 3/55

There is a photo of #10 at Conrad 7/22/39 taken by Otto Perry so that may be available for purchase from the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library. If there is one Perry photo of the MW there will probably be more.

There is information on the web if you search for the Montana Western Railway (Railroad) but there is a newer Montana Western that came about when the BN sold their line between Butte and Garrison in 1986. Don't let references to that throw you off.
The Ron Nixon collection at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman may have photos as well as the Montana Historical Society in Helena. Both of these facilities are online and can easily be found with a search. Come out and visit the area sometime. There is lots of railroad activity nearby Conrad and Valier to view in action and the locals might even have the old depot still standing at Valier.

Gas car 31 is at the Mid-Continent Railway museum and they have photos of the car over time at this location: http://www.mcrwy.com/collectn/DIESEL/mw31.html

[jrbarney]

Bob
Arbfbe's information-filled reply inspired me to do another quick search at the Index of Magazines, now that you have the name more correctly defined. One citation, found using MWRR as the search term:
"Montana Western," Short & Narrow Rails, #11, page 10 ( "JENSEN, BILL", MWRR, RAILROAD, SHORTLINE, PROTOTYPE, SANR )
It might be worth your while to contact the NMRA's Kalmbach Memorial Library for a photocopy of that article. The fee is reasonable, and the article might contain some more leads or photos.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

Thanks arbfbe and jrbarney.... I'll check those leads out.

Thanks again... Bob / IronGoat