When thinking of legendary railroad towns, one thinks of Proctor, MN and the DM&IR. Cheyenne, WY and the Union Pacific. Among that list, one must include Livingston, MT and the Northern Pacific. Incorporated on December 21st, 1882, named after Northern Pacific stockholder and director Crawford Livingston, this town soon became a critical point on the NPRY, home to one of the largest shops on the railroad as well as Division Headquarters. Throughout the years, it was common for many in a graduating class to go work for the railroad. The main subject here however, is the Livingston Depot. Built in 1902 and adorned lavishly with NP monads everywhere, this was the launching point for what would become the NPRY's most iconic slogan and advertising campaign. Norhtern Pacific Railway - The Yellowstone Park Line. Just a few hundred feet west of the depot, trains would swing around the wye and head south to Gardiner and Yellowstone National Park. The fact that the BN ripped out this line in the 1980's is absolutely astounding, imagine the hundreds of thousands who would jump at the chance to ride a train through the Paradise Valley today! The depot was designed by Reed & Stem, the original architects for New York City's Grand Central Station, to be a worthy showcase. Its majestic colonnade and ornate architectural detail greeted rail travelers until 1979, when AMTRAK suspended passenger service to southern Montana. The Burlington Northern briefly used it for offices until donating it to the City of Livingston in 1985. Two years and a thorough restoration later, the Depot Center opened under oversight of the the Livingston Depot Foundation, a member-based non-profit dedicated to preserving this monument to the area's rich past in ongoing service into the future. From the massive NPRY presence to the BN pullout in the 80's and back to becoming a key cog in the MRL system, Livingston is, and always will be, a railroad town.
