A WB oil train begins its trip up Mullan Pass as it departs Helena with a Santa Fe warbonnet unit assisting second out.

With helpers up front, the "LM" arrives in Helena, where they will work the yard & head into Missoula.

Helpers on the head end will stay with the train into Missoula today.

A Montana Rail Link helper set arrives at Helena Yard on July 1, 2020. Quite a few blue MRL locomotives are present—three helper sets, the Helena local power and MRL’s Laurel to Missoula freig... (more)

LM crawls into Helena Yard with coal empties waiting to head east. This train had to be set out in Townsend with power issues, so a helper set ran down to bring it in.

LM is picking up some cars and helpers at the junction, requiring them to pull clear of the signals. The extra power up front will be sent all the way to Missoula to assist in helper service for ... (more)

Helpers and local power include the famous SD45 #355, facing east, which is used on the 840 local.

Spirit AeroSystems loads arrive in Helena for a crew change. This is always a bit of a head turner out on the wide open range.

A well-powered "LM" is sinking its teeth into the grade heading up to Mullan Pass. While there were initially only two Aces on the train, a helper set was added not only to assist in dr... (more)

April 1 was no joke. With the 4404 bouncing back & forth on the "LM/ML", it would take a great deal of luck to find them...or so I thought. The previous day, the ML got to Laurel at sunr... (more)

A whopping total of ten MRL Aces are represented here....six up front, four on the rear. Two unexpected events brought this together. The LM lost their lead motor after leaving Livingston and clim... (more)

Evening in the mountains can be so cool. The sun has set on the day as westbound trains wait at Helena to head west towards Missoula. The LM is one of those trains, but wouldn't leave for another ... (more)

Helena's Helper #2 crew gets ready to head west to assist the LM over Mullan Pass.

MRL GP9R 109 heads back out to the main after lifting a gondola from a scrap yard in Helena.

The 840 local power has just tied down at the house tracks in Helena joining a few helper units.