Bozeman Depot is a former

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...

, opened in 1883 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 ...

. The current brick station house was built in 1892 and expanded in 1924.

Passenger rail A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

service to Bozeman ended in 1979 when budget cuts forced

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

to discontinue the ''

North Coast Hiawatha The ''North Coast Hiawatha'' was a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, and Seattle, Washington. The train was a successor to the Northern Pacific Railway's '' North Coast Limited'' and '' Mainstreeter'' ...

''. Since then, various proposals have been raised for restoration of train service or

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse is the reuse of an existing building for a purpose other than that for which it was originally built or designed. It is also known as recycling and conversion. The adaptive reuse of buildings can be a viable alternative to new con ...

of the depot building. The depot was also the northern terminus of the city's electric

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

system, the Bozeman Street Railway, which existed from 1892 to 1921.

History

The first railroad depot in Bozeman opened in 1883 when the

transcontinental Transcontinental may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Transcontinental", a song by the band Pedro the Lion from the album ''Achilles Heel'' * TC Transcontinental, a publishing, media and marketing company based in Canada, a subsidiary ...

main line of the

reached the city. In 1891 a cinder from a passing

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

ignited the wood depot building, causing severe fire damage. The city decided to rebuild at a grander scale since Bozeman was then competing to become the state capital of Montana. Completed in 1892, the new depot featured brick construction and Romanesque elements such as a large central

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...

. On July 27, 1892, the Bozeman Street Railway began operating

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

-powered trolleys on a route from Bozeman Depot to the corner of Main Street and Grand Avenue. Two extensions brought the system to in length by 1901, connecting to

Montana State College Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

at Montana Hall. Amid growing competition from automobiles, the system closed on December 15, 1921, when a snowstorm damaged the last trolley car. In 1900 Northern Pacific inaugurated the ''

North Coast Limited The ''North Coast Limited'' was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train aft ...

'', an express train between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and both

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

that stopped at Bozeman Depot. The ''Alaskan'' ran over the same route but on a slower schedule, making more stops. In 1952 the ''Alaskan'' was replaced by the '' Mainstreeter''. A major expansion and renovation of the depot occurred in 1923–1924, when a wing was added to the southeastern side in order to accommodate increased passenger traffic. Taking

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped i ...

influences, the central turret was also removed and the entire façade was clad in red brick. In 1970 the Northern Pacific merged with the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...

, the

Great Northern Railway Great Northern Railway or Great Northern Railroad may refer to: Australia * Great Northern Railway (Queensland) in Australia * Great Northern Rail Services in Victoria, Australia *Central Australia Railway was known as the great Northern Railway ...

, and the

Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S; ) was a railroad in the northwest United States. Incorporated in 1905, it was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank ...

, forming the facility's new owner, the

Burlington Northern Railroad 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 ...

took over most inter-city passenger rail in the United States on May 1, 1971, including the Burlington Northern routes. The ''North Coast Limited'' and ''Mainstreeter'' were discontinued. Bozeman was left with no train service until pressure led by Senator

Mike Mansfield Michael Joseph Mansfield (March 16, 1903 – October 5, 2001) was an American Democratic Party politician and diplomat who represented Montana in the United States House of Representatives from 1943 to 1953 and United States Senate from 1953 t ...

resulted in Amtrak launching the ''

'' in June.

End of passenger service

In October 1979 Amtrak discontinued the ''North Coast Hiawatha'' due to budget cuts, severing Bozeman and all of southern Montana from the national rail network. This left the ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...

'' as the only passenger rail service in the state, running on the former main line of the Great Northern Railway. Since then, Bozeman Depot has been closed to the public and used primarily for storage. In 1987

Montana Rail Link Montana Rail Link (now operated by BNSF as the MRL Subdivision) was a privately held Class II railroad in the United States. It operated on trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway and leased from its successor BNSF Railway. ...

leased the line and adjacent facilities, including Bozeman Depot, from Burlington Northern. In 1996 the Burlington Northern Railroad was merged with the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

to form the

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 ...

. In 2022 Montana Rail Link agreed to end its lease with BNSF, pending regulatory approval. This would make BNSF the direct owner of the depot building. In summer 1991 the trackside exterior of the depot was a

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, instead of or in addition to using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wi ...

for ''A River Runs Through It'', standing in for Missoula Depot. The film premiered in Bozeman.

Proposed future

Many proposals have been made over the years for reuse of the depot, including as a microbrewery, restaurant, bar, library, community center, office, or martial arts studio. In 2013 stakeholders completed a structural analysis of the building as a first-step toward a potential renovation. In 2000 a pub, Montana Ale Works, opened in the old Northern Pacific freight depot nearby, but the passenger depot remains dormant. In 2020 a group of Montana counties formed the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority with the goal of restoring service in southern Montana through Bozeman. In 2021 the authority played a role in securing language in the

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL),H.R. 3684 is a United States federal statute enacted by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Nov ...

requiring

USDOT The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

to study restoration of the ''North Coast Hiawatha''. The study must be completed by 2023.

References

External links

Bozeman, Montana – TrainWeb
{{Amtrak Montana stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1883 Former Northern Pacific Railway stations Former Amtrak stations in Montana Buildings and structures in Bozeman, Montana 1883 establishments in Montana Territory 1892 establishments in Montana Tram stops Prairie School architecture in Montana Railway stations in the United States closed in 1979