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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by VerMontanan From the "what if" standpoint of crossings of the Continental Divide in Montana, overlooked is the best crossing - and it's still in use - Deer Lodge Pass along I-15 south of Butte. [/quote] Elk Park Pass had (has) the best westbound crossing of the Continental Divide, far better than either Deer Lodge or Marias. [quote]QUOTE: And that it survives today (and survival is always a prime factor in determining the viability of any route) is a testimony to its worth, while the routes over Pipestone, Homestake, and Elk Park no longer are. [/quote] This is such a peasant-minded conclusion. Deer Lodge survives (so far) only because it is UP's only line into Silver Bow and the BNSF connection. If UP had entered by Pipestone, then Pipestone would still be in existence as a rail route. How about this statement: *The fact that Mullan Pass survives today is a testimony to its superiority over Elk Park Pass* In a real world analysis, the fact that Mullan Pass survives today is that it was NP's (and is MRL's) only viable mainline over the CD, while Elk Park Pass is gone because it was a one way in / one way out branchline into Butte for GN, and once the BN merger took place the ex-NP line from Garrison to Butte was sufficient for the amount of traffic generated for BN in Butte. We could make all sorts of peasant minded conclusions about survivors vs goners: *The fact that Stevens Pass survives today is a testimony to its superiority over Snoqualmie Pass* (Hmmm, 2.2% both ways plus 8 mile tunnel vs 1.7%/0.7% plus 2 mile tunnel) *The fact that Stampede Pass survives today is a testimony to its superiority over Snoqualmie Pass (Again, 2.2% both ways vs 1.7%/0.7%) *The fact that Bozeman Pass survives today is a testimony to its superiority over Sixteen Mile Canyon* (2.2 % both ways vs 1.0%/1.4%) *The fact that the ex-NP line between Spokane and Pasco survives today is a testimony to its superiority over the ex-SP&S line* We could go on and on as to why current lines survive while other lines are gone, but anyone who claims it is primarily due to alleged superior engineering of one over the other is being simple-minded. It is politics/managerial decisions/ and in some cases pure luck that some lines survive while others have perished.
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