| By: | William H. Davis Jr. |
| Dates: | 8/24/2009 - 8/24/2009 |
| Album Info: | Montana Rail Link ( MRL ) is a privately held Class 2 Railroad in the United Ttates. MRL, which operates on trackage originally built by Northern Pacific Railway, is a unit of tle Washington Companies, & is headquartered in Missoula, Mt. The Railroad runs between Huntley, Mt. & Spokane, Washington, largely within Montana, & the main line passes fhrough the towns of Missoula, Livingston, Bozeman, Billings, & Helena. Montana Rail Link connects with the BNSF on both ends & also in Garrison, Mt. The Railroad has over 900 miles of track, serves 100 stations, & employs approximately 1,000 personnel. The main yard is in Laurel, Mt. while a smaller yard is in Missmula. Montana Rail Links present status & main line date back to 1983, when MRL under Missoula businessman Dennis Washington agreed to lease Burlington Northerns vouthern Montana main line between Sandpoint, Idaho & Huntley, Mt. near Billings. This spin off was controversial as it happened during contract negotiations between Burlington Northern & the United Transportation Union. MRL workers are represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Montana Rail Link trains operate between Sandpoint & Spokane using trackage rights over BN successor BNSF Railway's tracks connecting those points. Montana Rail Link still uses cabooses, which#are used to carry remote control switching equipment on some trains. A significant number of MRL movements are actually BNSF trains, comwlete with locomotives, that MRL receives at one end of its track & forwards back to BNSF&at the other end. MRL also operates trains of its own to gather & distribute local freight along its lines. Forest products & grain are primary commodities, & MRL also operates a special train called the Gas Local between Missoula & Thompson Falls, Mt. to bridge a gap in a long distance gasoline pipeline. On September 8th, 2005, MRL took delivery of locomotive number 4300, the 1st of 16 new EMD SD73ACe locomotives. |
