Helpers shove an ethanol train up Bozeman Pass.

MRL's 2nd Livingston helper set is shoving on the rear of a westbound coal load as it climbs Bozeman Pass.

A short 25 car Laurel to Missoula freight has conquered the Continental Divide and rolls west to its next stop at Garrison.

Montana Rail Link’s Missoula to Laurel manifest freight passes the old stock pens and loaders at Toston, Montana, on July 1, 2018. The rustic facility has dual loading shoots that appear to be s... (more)

Shortly before the sun would begin to slip behind the mountains, Montana Rail Link’s eastbound Missoula to Laurel manifest drops down the east slope of Mullan Pass as it crosses Skyline Trestle ... (more)

With their on line work done in pretty good time, the ML is taking advantage of the short train as they blast out of Livingston at track speed headed for Laurel.

2 MRL SD70ACe's lift a light Laurel, MT-Missoula, MT manifest up 2.2% grade of Mullan Pass. In a mile the train will duck into Blossburg Tunnel and cross under the Continental Divide.

Big Sky Country. Montana certainly lives up to its billing. Here the entire 77 car LM is visible as runs out its final miles in the prairie and farmlands before tackling the famed helper districts... (more)

Built 63 years apart, two SD70ACe's dwarf the ex CGW 120, now MRL 115, just as Crazy Mountains in the background dwarf the LM as it makes its way across the eastern end of the railroad between Big... (more)

Just short of Elton, the LM heads west alongside the Yellowstone River, as the unseasonably warm weather has caused the river to start running again.

LM stretches out in the early parts of the long trip to Helena as it approaches Reed Point.

The LM is almost a quarter of the way to its destination of Missoula as it approaches Livingston with a set out and a wait for helpers before it tackles the hill ahead.

Newly Minted MRL SD70ACe's Climb the Grade Toward Mullan Tunnel

MRL #4402 leads the Missoula - Laurel freight as it crosses over Mullen Pass as the fall colors start to peak

Montana Rail Link Manifest freight MMISLAU (Missoula to Laurel) is at Livingston, Montana, on June 15, 2014. EMD SD70ACe Nos. 4402 and 4403 lead the eastbound train.