Skating along the Clark Fork River in northwest Montana, MRLs famous day gas train begins its eastward trek for Missoula, with the normal ‘06 & ‘08 up front.

Bozeman pass, known across the country as one of the more iconic mountain passes that trains traverse, sees a local once a week with some of the last GP35 locomotives left in operation. On this su... (more)

In November of 2020, MRL released the second of two special wrapped locomotives to honor those related with the company, with the first being veterans, and the latter being essential workers. And ... (more)

An icon to Montana, and hard to find around the country, one of the last straight SD45s rumbles up the MRL Montana City Branch with a few cars of concrete for Helena. Paired up with the 355 is the... (more)

On the stormy and darkening evening of June 25, 2019, Montana Rail Link’s Helena switch rolls through a curve just out of Winston, Montana. Powering the short local with two cars for the limesto... (more)

Montana Rail Link’s Helena switch serves the limestone plant at Townsend, Montana, on the morning of June 30, 2017.

Under a big Montana sky, Montana Rail Link’s MMISLAU (Missoula to Laurel manifest) freight approaches Winston on the morning of July 3, 2018.

A westbound BNSF coal train loops out of Austin, Montana, while climbing Mullan Pass west of Helena on October 7, 2020. Four Montana Rail Link EMD SD70ACes on the mid-train manned helper grind upg... (more)

One of the two Livingston, MT-based helper sets, a pair of SD70ACe bracketing the one-of-a-kind for MRL, SDP40, are against a CP AC4400CW as the train climbs toward Bozeman Pass and thunderstorms ... (more)

Montana Rail Link’s night gas local cruises along the Clark Fork approaching Plains, Montana, late in the afternoon of June 26, 2020.

The crew on Montana Rail Link GP9 No. 109 on the Helena switch has just finished delivering cars to the Ash Grove Cement plant at Montana City, Montana, on the afternoon of July 1, 2018, and are n... (more)

As a BNSF grain train churns upgrade with a quartet of manned Montana Rail Link EMD SD70ACe helpers cut into the middle of the train, another helper set slowly makes its way east back toward Helen... (more)

Montana Rail Link’s MMISLAU freight drops downgrade at Austin, Montana, on the afternoon of July 5, 2021. The train is led by MRL’s specially painted (wrapped, actually) “Thank you to all es... (more)

The Montana Rockies Daylight climbs out of Helena headed for Mullan Pass on a hot and dry August afternoon. This train was a two day trip operated by Montana Rockies Rail Tours and the MRL for a t... (more)

Getting out of St. Regis before dawn, we headed to some of Montana Rail Link’s last Northern Pacific-era semaphores east of town. Magic colors appeared as a rising sun finally peaked over the ta... (more)