The West

Milwaukee Road-Side Attractions of Montana

Intro

Montana called me to it for its mines, ghost towns, and beauty. The thousands of miles of abandoned rail grades was an unexpected surprise. As I connected the dots between former mining towns, headframes, and ruins, I kept running into abandoned Milwaukee Road grades, inspiring me to follow the old mainline for a few hundred miles. Here’s a preview of what I found:

From a 1920 brochure.
The depot of Ringling is a very lonely looking building and there are many holes in its roof. There are no signs on it whatsoever.
Ringling’s church was built in 1914 and sits on a hill over the town.
The depot at the head of town seems to be being disassembled. Behind it is a dead signal where the tracks used to be; they’ve been pulled.
Castle, Montana is a ghost town. Almost no signs remain that it was a mining town.
Milwaukee Road’s second substation at Loweth, as seen from the highway. Somewhat ironically, a new electrical substation is across the street from it today.In the background, you can make out a collapsing storage shed and some of the grades.
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References »

  • (1918, September 4). The Northwestern Miller, 115.
  • (1929, July). Milwaukee Road Magazine.
  • (1959). Modern Railroads, 14(1), 136.
  • Drake, J. (1914, April). Milwaukee Road Magazine, 26.
  • Clark, R. A., & Fell, J. J., Jr. (2009). Retrieved July 14, 2017, from http://www.oldmilwaukeeroad.com/content/proud/complete_text.htm
  • HISTORY OF THE LOCATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE LINES WEST OF MOBRIDGE, SOUTH DAKOTA. (1915). VALUATION SECTIONS AND SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES.
  • McRae, W. C., & Jewell, J. (2009). Moon Montana. Avalon Publishing.
  • Milwaukee Road Historical District, Harlowton [NRHP Nomination Form]. (1988, July 8).
  • Snyder, S. A. (2012). Scenic Routes & Byways Montana. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=MFmBWZQys7IC
  • Stearns, H. J. (1966). History of the upper Musselshell Valley to 1920. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3594&context=etd