Guys Found this website the other day, the two guys rode a speeder from Miles City MT to Cedar Falls WA after the PCE was abandoned in 1980 or 81. Click on the first pic the enjoy the slideshow. http://newwww.weedroute.com/?p=8
I've seen this one. But apparently a lot of folks are not aware it exists. If their photos were in exact sequence, they'd have a really powerful presentation.
I saw it too. I really wished the photos had captions as I only recognized a small portion of the photo locations.
I doesn't get much better than that. I'm not sure why we can't find a benevolent philanthropist out there with a few billion dollars to rebuild the Milwaukee Road.
Don't say that too loudly. There are too many people today of a sick mindset "it can't be done!" I feel as though we have regressed to the fifteenth century again. I don't understand what has happened to the USA, but what once made us a decent place, is now taboo. Plus we also have a few idiots out there still actually striving to keep those old fairy tales about the MILW alive. Especially one fool down south, who has no data, nothing to go on except a bizarre vendetta.
Interresting... Does that mean the rails weren't immediately torn off or removed after the line's abandonment? Furthermore, did the guys run on the line with their speeder..... legally? Asking the remnant of MILW's headquarters? Or doing it "on their own"? Dom
The rails were not immediately removed. That did not begin until at least very late 1981. In October of 1981, a friend and I journeyed from the west end to Miles City. Everything was still in place, main and branches. Too many years now, and I am forgetting what I observed. They might have obtained permission. I have doubts. Many people believe that when trains stop running, it's open season on access, removing artifacts, etc. Which is obviously untrue. I know there was at least one other "excursion" after shutdown, which was not approved and they got into some trouble by doing so.
OK, very interresting indeed. Funny, not long after I last watched Pentrex's Combo DVD Milwaukee Road Volumes I, II and III... Dom
When revenue operations ceased, 0001 hours, March 1, 1980, west of Miles City, it was not abandoned. It was merely embargoed. Court proceedings weren't as yet completed.
Great pictures. I rode the line numerous times from Harlowtown to Deer Lodge growing up. Also made a few trips from Deer Lodge to Avery, ID. Sure brings back memories. Love the Sixteen Mile Canyon, probably my favorite stretch of track. The trip over Pipestone was interesting too, but I never really felt comfortable over the trestles between Haugen, MT and Avery, ID. Many of these pictures sure brought back great memories. I never traveled west of Avery on the Milwaukee Road. The few train trips to Washington we tood were on the North Coast Limited.
I can't comment on all of that, but I was just thinking about it all again, driving to work. You would think after 40 years, all the myths would have been dispelled. Just think of how many billions have already been lost since the Milwaukee Road pulled out in port shipments to and from Seattle-Tacoma alone.
Nope. Especially when there are people amongst us who don't do their homework- And by this I mean some who should be legitimate historians, who won't do their homework. (Purely lazy, or granetd accolades undeserved.) Plus people who'll believe anything, and a few who persist in fighting against FACTS. There is one particular person in the southern USA who is probably the worst myth perpetuator of them all. Who any time data is presented, counters it with personal opinion. When presented with hard data, and asked for counter-data, simply goes into angry, babbling rants. This party shows up anywhere MILW history is discussed, pushing a personal vendetta against the truth. It's utterly pathetic, but what can we do against such ignorance?
