Montana Rail Link (now operated by BNSF as the MRL Subdivision) was a privately held Class II railroad in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It operated on trackage originally built by the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

and leased from its successor

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

. MRL was a unit of The Washington Companies and was headquartered in

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five ...

. The railroad ran between

Huntley, Montana Huntley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States. The population was 411 at the 2000 census. Huntley lent its name to the Huntley Project, a federal irrigation project that began delivering water to the a ...

and

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

, largely within Montana, and the main line passes through the towns of Missoula, Livingston, Bozeman, Billings, and Helena. Montana Rail Link connected with the

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

on both ends and also in Garrison, Montana. The railroad had over of track, served 100 stations, and employed approximately 1,000 personnel. The main classification yard was in Laurel, Montana, with smaller yards in Missoula, Billings, Bozeman and Helena. Repair and mechanical facilities were in Livingston, Montana; turntables remain in Livingston and Laurel. In January 2022, MRL and BNSF agreed on an early lease termination to return control of the line to BNSF. This took place on January 1, 2024; MRL became a subdivision of BNSF, and all employees of MRL were offered employment with BNSF.

History

Austin MT 8 23 05xRPRP - Flickr - drewj1946

Montana Rail Link's independent status and main line dates back to October 31, 1987, when MRL under Missoula businessman Dennis Washington commenced a 60-year lease of

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

's southern Montana main line between Sandpoint,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

and

, near Billings. This spin-off was controversial as it happened during contract negotiations between Burlington Northern and the

United Transportation Union The United Transportation Union (UTU) was a broad-based, transportation labor Trade union, union that represented about 70,000 active and retired railroad, bus, mass transit, and airline workers in the United States. The UTU was headquartered in C ...

. MRL workers were represented by various unions. Montana Rail Link trains operated between Billings and Spokane using trackage rights over BN successor

's tracks connecting those points. Montana Rail Link used

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting; as well as in keeping a lookout for load ...

s until the BNSF takeover in 2024, which were used to carry remote control switching equipment on Laurel switch engines. A significant number of MRL movements were actually BNSF trains, complete with locomotives, that MRL received at one end of its track and forwarded back to BNSF at the other end. MRL also operated trains of its own to gather and distribute local freight along its lines. Forest products and grain were primary commodities, and MRL also operated a special train, called the Gas Local, between Missoula and Thompson Falls, Montana, to bridge a gap in a long-distance gasoline pipeline. On September 8, 2005, Montana Rail Link took delivery of locomotive number 4300, the first of 16 new EMD SD70ACe locomotives. This was the first locomotive that the railroad has ordered new from a manufacturer, and it and the rest of the class were intended to replace aging

SD40 SD40 may refer to: * Canon PowerShot SD40, a digital camera * EMD SD40, a diesel-electric locomotive * South Dakota Highway 40 * SD-40 alcohol, ethanol denatured alcohol, denatured by adding denatonium benzoate * School District 40 New Westminster, ...

and SD45 locomotives on trains crossing the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

over the

continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

Mullan Pass Mullan Pass is a mountain pass in the western United States, in the Rocky Mountains of Montana. It sits on the Continental Divide on the border between Powell and Lewis and Clark counties at above sea level. Located in the Helena National Fores ...

near Helena, Montana and Bozeman Pass near Bozeman, Montana. In January 2022, BNSF agreed to pay MRL $2 billion for an early lease termination. The return to BNSF control required the approval of the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is an independent federal agency that serves as an adjudicatory board. The board was created in 1996 following the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and absorbed regula ...

, and this was later approved on March 8, 2023. BNSF took over operations on January 1, 2024. This absorbed the MRL into BNSF, integrating MRL operations, technology and personnel. All 1,200 employees were offered employment with BNSF.

Incidents

1989 Helena train wreck

In the Helena train wreck of February 2, 1989, 48 decoupled rail cars rolled into Helena, hit a parked work train, caught fire and exploded. While property damage was extensive, there were no casualties.

2014 Alberton derailment

On July 3, 2014, a MRL train with 90 railcars derailed near Alberton, Montana, en route from

Laurel, Montana Laurel is a city in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States and the third largest community in the Billings Metropolitan Statistical Area. Laurel is located in the Yellowstone Valley as an east–west terminal division point of the BNSF Rai ...

. Twenty cars derailed, including three containing

hazardous materials Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the Natural environment, environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials (syll ...

and six

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the t ...

fuselages. The 737 fuselages had been built in Kansas at

Spirit AeroSystems Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. is an American Manufacturing, manufacturer of aerostructures for commercial airplanes, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. The company produces fuselage sections for Boeing's Boeing 737, 737 and Boeing 787 Dreaml ...

and were being shipped to

Renton, Washington Renton is a city in King County, Washington, United States, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 202 ...

, for final assembly. Three of the fuselages fell down an embankment, with two reaching the

Clark Fork River The Clark Fork, or the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately long. It is named after William Clark of the 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition. The largest river by volume in Montana, it ...

. The six fuselages were recovered and scrapped within the month.

2023 Quinn's Hot Springs derailment

On the morning of Sunday, April 2, 2023, a westbound MRL freight train derailed at Quinn's Hot Springs Resort in Paradise, Montana. About 25 cars derailed, including cases of canned and bottled beer, clay powder and one with highly flammable gas (alternately described as butane or propane); some cars tumbled into the

, and others derailed in the nearby tunnel. There were no injuries, fires or release of hazardous materials. Strong winds blowing the clay powder appeared like smoke and guest cabins were evacuated as a precaution. As the derailment site was only accessible by water, the fire district's water rescue team ferried responders across the river in a small boat.

2023 Yellowstone River derailment

On June 24, 2023, part of a westbound freight train derailed near Reed Point in Stillwater County, while traveling on a bridge over the

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountain ...

. The bridge collapsed and ten cars derailed, of which at least eight fell into the river. Breached cars included either molten sulfur or asphalt. Two cars carried sodium hydro sulfate, however, these did not rupture. Yellowstone County Disaster and Emergency Services stated that several cars were damaged and leaked petroleum products. Yellow liquid flowing out of the cars was visible. MRL stated that several cars carried hazmat products. As to whether the bridge collapsed first or the cars derailed first is under investigation.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montana Rail Link Regional railroads in the United States Defunct Idaho railroads Defunct Montana railroads Defunct Washington (state) railroads Spin-offs of the Burlington Northern Railroad Railway companies established in 1987 Railway companies disestablished in 2024 1987 establishments in Montana 2024 disestablishments in Montana Predecessors of the BNSF Railway