Montana Rail Link EMD SD70ACe locomotives used in helper service over Mullan Pass accumulated a ton of grime and soot working through confining Mullan Tunnel under the Continental Divide. MRL wash... (more)

BNSF 7684 heads up a mixed GE-EMD consist on a westbound manifest freight on Montana Rail Link at Helena, MT. The train is cutting in manned helpers for the climb up Mullan Pass en route to Missou... (more)

In the last good light of the day, a loaded westbound coal train pulls up to East Helena where it will wait to enter the yard. An extra MRL locomotive was useful for climbing Winston Hill on appr... (more)

An eastbound set of light Montana Rail Link helpers slide downhill back to Helena Montana.

BNSF 7048 lifts a loaded Grainer out of Helena Montana for Missoula and the west coast.

4483 splits the signals at Tobin, Montana. Trains, most with mid-train helpers in place, wait here for the signal to begin their climb of Mullan Pass. At the right in the photograph is the impre... (more)

Trains sitting in the Helena yard are getting ready to head west over Mullan Pass.

BNSF’s Laurel to Spokane manifest freight powered by three Montana Rail Link EMD SD40-2XR (rebuilt SD40) locomotives led by No. 251 sits in the railroad’s Helena yard waiting for a new crew on... (more)

Framed by a portion of the station at Helena, Montana, is Montana Rail Link EMD SD40-2XR No. 251 leading MRL’s Laurel to Spokane manifest freight that is waiting for a new crew, while a helper s... (more)

Two sets of four Montana Rail Link EMD SD70ACes, along with a couple of SD45s and yard switcher GP9 No. 120 gather at the engine facility at Helena, Montana, on May 23, 2011. The SD70ACes are used... (more)

The classic Helena shot, but does it ever really get old? An old and worn cream and green MAC, a classic but fading reminder of the past, leads this coal load screaming out of Montana's capital c... (more)

While the MRL isn't looking for T4 Ace's, EMD is hoping other railroads are, and wants to prove they can operate in any condition. Testing out the Helena, these SD70ACe-T4 units will be pushed to ... (more)

Trains line up at Helena waiting for the work window on Mullan Pass to end. By the time BNSF 7684 got started here, there were at least five trains in the yard waiting to go west, and more stacked... (more)

Stacking ’em up
With a long trackwork window on Mullan Pass during the day, westbound trains began to stack up on Montana Rail Link’s Second Subdivision, including at the crew change... (more)

CREX 1308 brings up the rear of an empty coal train arriving at Helena, MT after a trip over Mullan Pass from Missoula.