MRL's 840 local's power heads to the house in Helena.

MRL's 844 local departs the west end of Louisville after meeting an eastbound.

Descending Mullan Pass west of Helena, Montana, is Montana Rail Link’s ML (Missoula to Laurel manifest freight) at Austin on September 12, 2002.

After a steady downpour the last drops are noisily landing here and there and the rising fog portends a bright day in the deep hollers along the Kentucky line. The shadows are long nevertheless, ... (more)

WC SD45 6619 shows off its colors at Shops Yard, North Fond du Lac, WI in the presence of an Alco switcher, WC business car and three more SD45s, one still in Santa Fe colors. The unit would be up... (more)

Another favorite railroad has passed into the history books. As 2023 draws to a close so does the lease of the old Northern Pacific mainline through the Rockies by Montana Rail Link. One of the ne... (more)

Montana Rail Link EMD SD45 No. 328 powers a westbound MRL work train through a cut between Eddy and Thompson Falls, Montana, on September 21, 2012.

WC 6619 leads an empty ore train across the Escanaba River at Wells, MI in May of 1997. The weather is damp and dreary but the scene can't be repeated today as the WC is gone, the ancient bridge h... (more)

Originally N&W ex NS on lease to SP, all blotchy and decrepit. Sad for me as I remember seeing some of these new and blue and looking spiffy.

In the last few weeks, Montana Rail Link has been doing some housecleaning before the BNSF takeover at the end of the year. Several locomotives were scrapped at Livingston, including EMD SD45 Nos.... (more)

Montana Rail Link’s ML crosses Austin Creek Trestle at Skyline, Montana, on September 12, 2002. A trio of MRL SD45s and F45 No. 391 (off line) power the freight operating from Missoula to Laurel... (more)

Cajon, the site of the old Santa Fe station in the heart of Cajon Pass, sits at the 3,100 foot (945 meters) elevation, and the snow is not usually very deep here. But on occasion, it can get pret... (more)

An eastbound (southbound) Wisconsin Central freight passes an eastbound WC taconite ore train between Van Dyne and North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on April 14, 1997. The freight is on the WC main li... (more)

Montana Rail Link’s 840 local from Helena arrives at Logan, Montana, on September 26, 2007. Still standing on this day in the background is a relic from another age and mode of locomotion—an o... (more)

Powered by a pair of EMD SD45s, a Montana Rail Link ballast train moves slowly eastward as it loads at the ballast pit at Spire Rock, Montana, on September 14, 2010. MRL uses the former Northern P... (more)