A pair of helpers on the rear of a westbound rumble across the middle fork of the Flathead River east of Essex.

Help Wanted: A BNSF helper set shoves on the rear end of an eastbound manifest freight heading up the western slope of Marias Pass. The train is seen here, crossing the Goat Lick Trestle ne... (more)

Winter On Marias Pass: BNSF Railway 5483 and two other General Electrics lead a manifest freight over the Middle Fork of the Flathead River at Java, near Essex, Mont., on the afternoon of F... (more)

Burlington Northern Santa Fe train No. 11 passes over Goat Lick Trestle east of Essex, Montana on a snowy March 1, 1997. Three Burlington Northern SD40-2s lead the intermodal train, piloted by No.... (more)

Fresh mountain snow contrasts with fall colors as the eastbound Empire Builder moves up the west slope of Marias Pass.

Essex, Montana: There are railroad towns and then there is Essex. Located on the former Great Northern Railway's Marias Pass line, the small community was and still is a critical helper sta... (more)

The Westbound Empire Builder rolls across the bridge between Java East and Java West, running relatively close to ontime

An East bound stack train makes it's way over the goat lick trestle East of Essex

Two sets of Burlington Northern SD40-2 helpers rest in front of the Izaak Walton Inn at Essex, Montana, on a cold March 2, 1989. Soon enough, another call to push a train up Marias Pass will be an... (more)

GN441 now awaits its next guests.

Dwarfed by the forested slopes along the Flathead River, a westbound stack train led by an H1 Dash 9 and an SD60M crosses Sheep Creek Trestle.

Two SD40-2s head up the mountain out of Essex with a work train, seen crossing Sheep Creek Trestle.

Another shot that's been done before, but something I just had to see for myself: an on time Empire Builder crosses the Java Creek Trestle east of Essex, MT under clear skies.

BNSF work train and a Helper Set wait in the Essex yard for their next call to duty.

With flooding in the Heartland, BNSF dispatched a ballast extra east on June 5, 2011. The train is seen here crossing the Sheep Creek Trestle, just east of Essex, Montana, through the stunning sce... (more)