Ravenna and Gold Creek are succumbing to the ages. Believe both are actually privately owned. One was by a former Milw man. Who passed away. So.... Fate will likely be they'll collapse, or be removed for safety. East Portal sub, and essentially all else there, long gone. Just some sad debris. Avery, ID, sub is gone as well. Boxcab E50
All the more reason to document them while I still can. Yikes, I thought more of them still were around than this!
Out here in Washington, we still have Taunton, S. Cle Elum, and the nicely refurbished Renton one. As for foundations, there is Cedar Falls, Hyak, the one at Boylston,(I think), and at Kitittas. Oh, and the one at Tacoma Jtc. has a gas refinery built on top of it, so no remains there.
Kurt, Not to be a nitpicker, but that would be of Coast Division interest.. Maybe I should rename the thread Lines West? That would cover everything from Mobridge, SD to Tide Flats Yard. Please feel free to chime in with pics!
That would be Doris. I had hoped that Hyak would survive. The power company was using it for a while. But it was also removed. :sad: Boxcab E50
The only thing about going to these places is chasing the ghost's of the past and finding little objects in the weeds and dirt. I have found a couple of insulators w/ "blueish" copper still attached to them, and the accasional signal base on the side of the trail.
Ryan- There is/was a brick building in the Sumner area. But it's not Milw related. The only two Milw in the Valley were Tacoma Jct, and Renton. Boxcab E50
Bonner, MT Here's some good news for a portion of ex-MILW right-of-way. MRL rebuilt a section of the Big Blackfoot branch on Sept. 20 to access the Milltown dam cleanup sight at Bonner. The small MILW yard behind Bonner school still exists and is used by MRL to serve Stimson Lumber. However, the MILW tracks heading south to Bonner Jct. under Hwy 10, MRL's ex-NP main, and I-90 was a bare ROW until last week when 4 miles of new track were built to the loading site where the toxic sediment from Milltown dam will be loaded into MRL gons and hauled to Opportunity Ponds in the Durant, MT area. Attached is a photo of the first MRL train on the ex-MILW passing beneath the ex-NP main. The caboose on display is an ex-GN caboose dressed in MILW colors and numbered sequentially after the MILW cabooses of the same model. Brent
Brent, Welcome aboard! I'm willing to bet that's the absolute best that portion of the Milwaukee Road ROW has ever looked! 4 miles? How far does it go? To the east or west of Missoula?
BGM- Thanks for posting! Hemi- This is at Bonner. Which is east of Missoula. It passes under I-90. Boxcab E50
I knew that, but this 4 miles--is it headed east of Bonner? Waitaminnit... Are you suggesting the line along MT-200 is being rebuilt for those 4 miles?I'm lost...
Milltown, and the dam, are both located west of Bonner. I wonder about taking a look via Google Earth? Boxcab E50
Sorry, I better clarify. MRL rebuilt the line from the Bonner yard southward under the Hwy 10, MRL, and I-90 to just north of where the MILW's bridge crossed the Clark Fork River. At this point the new line swings west of the MILW ROW and parallels the Clark Fork towards the dam. On this tangent stretch along the river will be where those new black MRL gondolas will be loaded with the sediment. Clear as mud? (Pun intended.) The 1st photo shows the new track under the ex-NP/MRL main. In the 2nd photo below is where the new line diverges from the MILW ROW. The 3rd photo shows the line curving to the west towards the dam. Bonner Jct and the MILW main were in the background at the base of the hill. The 4th photo shows the timber remains above the ballast cars of the MILW's bridge over the Clark Fork.
Cool! So this is east and south of Missoula. Are you from Missoula? Good to have a railfan reporter sending the news!
I gotta guess this is the old MILW main, and the branch heading NE to Bonner.... Where is this new bridge? I gotta aalso guess this is a tunnel next to this dam?
Hemi- You can see remnants of the old Milw wye at Bonner Junction, lower center of photo. Plus the remains of their former bridge across the Clark Fork. Above that, the I-90 bridges. That new line comes under I-90. then swings west on the north bank. Boxcab E50
OK, now I'm really lost--they built a new ROW along I-90 after crossing under the interstate? There seems to be some rugged or unbuildable terrain there, with the riverbank and all. Mayby someone needs to draw out the new ROW for this branch?
That's correct, the new line curves west from the MILW ROW and parallels I-90 and the river. MRL's sister company, Envirocon, has been working this site for a year or more and has done mucho excavation. The topography has completely changed from when that satellite photo was taken. Brent
Yes, that MILW tunnel next to the dam is #16 1/2 built after the line was relocated for the dam. Brent Missoula, MT
