The sight of an occasional mermaid and song of hundreds of frogs are disrupted by three 20 cylinder SD45's and 10,800 horsepower roaring West with a heavy 119 car manifest over what is called &quo... (more)

BNSF HKCKSPO passes over the inlet for Trout Creek at Trout Creek, Montana, on October 1, 2014. Three leased Montana Rail Link SD45s (382, 319 and 328, now labeled SD45-2s) power the westbound fre... (more)

A fortuitous break in the clouds reveals a fleeting moment of golden evening light as BNSF HKCKSPO passes through Belknap, Montana, on October 1, 2014. Three leased Montana Rail Link SD45s (382, 3... (more)

The waters of the Clark Fork River gently flow below, and the occasional celebratory remarks of a fisherman on the rivers edge behind me fill the calm mountain air, until 60 cylinders and 10,800 h... (more)

The white waters of the Fish Creek rapidly flow below three SD45's and their 119-car Kansas City, KS to Spokane, WA manifest, which are soaring high above on the 576 foot long Bridge 165.

Flares Down the Fourth: With sets of SD45-2s running on a railroad that hasn't changed much since the 1970s (Note the Northern Pacific cantilever signal and telegraph wires) it's easy to se... (more)

Flares Down the Fourth: A trio of Montana Rail Link SD45-2s leads a BNSF Railway manifest freight down the Fourth Subdivision near Paradise, Montana on Sept. 6, 2015. The SD45-2s have been ... (more)

The Day Gas rolls east out alongside the Flathead River just east of Paradise.

Railroading is a game of numbers.

90 cylinders. 10,800 horsepower. 7,894 tons. 17,200 more horsepower. 2.2 percent.

Three MRL SD45's, with the help of four more EMD's cu... (more)

After completing a power mod, which consisted of setting out two trailing SD45's in Livingston, the SPOLAU departs town under the definition of "Big Sky Country".

Claps of thunder are drowned out by ninety-six EMD cylinders, struggling up the West slope of Bozeman Pass with a heavy manifest destined for Laurel. Montana mountain railroading at its finest!

Trotting East along the banks of the Yellowstone River, three EMD vets cruise along with a heavy SPOLAU on the drawbars.

Five veteran EMD's with a heavy Spokane to Laurel manifest is easing down the Emerald Hills with its 1.80% grade of Bozeman Pass.

Manned helpers on the rear of a heavy soybean load push West after meeting the Spokane - Laurel, being led by five veteran EMD's. You honestly can't beat the way the MRL railroads, old school EMD'... (more)

The Crazy Mountains stand high above three veteran EMD's hustling an Eastbound manifest past t-bones, ribeyes and even some veal grazing on one of the many Montana ranches.