Water is running a bit high and roars over Toston Dam in Lombard Canyon as a westbound BNSF grain train passes by on Montana Rail Link’s Second Subdivision on the morning of July 6, 2018.

A westbound high priority train winds its way past the Toston dam, just 10 miles from the headwaters of the Missouri River.

An eastbound BNSF unit oil train empties rips through the small town of Toston, Montana, framed by the old highway bridge over the Missouri River on June 29, 2018. This bridge was opened in 1920, ... (more)

A westbound high priority stack train is seen cruising along the Missouri River behind the Toston dam. The extra power on this train will be helpful as the train will need to climb Winston Hill o... (more)

An eastbound BNSF grain empty thunders by the old stock pens and loader at Toston, Montana, on Montana Rail Link’s Second Subdivision on July 1, 2018. Would’ve been interesting to watch them l... (more)

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)

An eastbound BNSF freight passes Toston Dam on the Missouri River in Lombard Canyon east of Toston, Montana, on the sunny afternoon of June 27, 2016. Behind the locomotives carrying three differen... (more)

A BNSF empty crude oil train enters Lombard Canyon east of Toston, Montana, on June 30, 2017. Powering the train up front is a pair of BNSF ES44s in AC and DC versions, as well as a pair of Montan... (more)

BNSF 7459 brings up the rear of an oil train heading west out of Lombard Canyon along the Missouri River near Toston, MT. An MRL MOW crew takes a short break while the train passes by.

Montana Rail Link’s westbound manifest freight train MLAUMIS crawls along the Missouri River through Lombard Canyon east of Toston, Montana, on June 25, 2015.

For a good part of the afternoon of a hot June 30, 2016, we spent cooling off in the Missouri River in Lombard Canyon. Here, friends James Edgar and Robert Edgar and my brother Tom enjoy the water... (more)

A westbound BNSF “Boeing Special” cruises through Lombard Canyon east of Toston, Montana, on the morning of June 26, 2016.

A westbound BNSF manifest freight negotiates a curve in Lombard Canyon east of Toston, Montana, on the morning of June 26, 2017.

Sunset over the Missouri
Like a firestorm peaking beneath evening storm clouds, the sun is setting over a zigzagging Missouri River just east of Toston, Montana, as a westbound BNSF grai... (more)

An empty oil train heads east along the Missouri River east of Toston, MT on Montana Rail Link powered by a mix of BNSF and MRL power. This area is near the beginning of Lombard Canyon at a fish h... (more)