Grain, 737s, helpers, and more! Railfanning Livingston, MT 10-5-16 // Trinity Rail Productions

In this video, you'll get a good idea of what Montana Rail Link's helper operations on Bozeman Pass are like. When I visited the MRL last October, traffic was heavy with grain, coal, and manifest freights.

The first train I caught was a westbound grain train at the west portal of Bozeman Tunnel near West End, MT. The cast concrete tunnel portal that's currently in use marks the summit of Bozeman Pass and was built in 1945 by Northern Pacific to replace the original 1885 stone portal, which can still be seen from the hillside west of the 1945 portal and south of I-90. Note that several of the cars had spilled grain on top around the hatches.

I headed back to Livingston and arrived in time to catch the three-unit manned helper set returning to the yard. The helpers are normally cut off at the east portal of Bozeman Tunnel (Muir, MT), so I didn't see them from my last vantage point at the west end of the tunnel. This helper set consisted of two SD70ACes sandwiching an ex-GN SDP40 which has since been rebuilt to SD40-2XR specs. There was another westbound grain train waiting for assistance, so the helpers wasted no time getting in position. As that train left Livingston, the hot Portland, OR to Alliance, TX Q train appeared on the scene, but I wasn't in a good position to capture it. I decided to head to East Livingston to catch the Q train, then turn around and intercept the slow grain train back at Chester, MT as it attacked Bozeman Pass. Then I headed to Muir to catch the helpers being cut off of the train.

Back in Livingston, the helpers returned to yet another train waiting to head west. As the helpers were being attached, MRL's Livingston Local (train R-MRL8411-05) returned to the yard in Livingston after a busy day of switching. The waiting train was a manifest freight with two Boeing 737 fuselages in tow, heading for Renton, Washington for final assembly.

After the manifest freight cleared the yard, another westbound grain train arrived. It was getting dark and it would be more than an hour before the helpers were back, so I called it a night. It was quite a successful day!

0:36 Westbound BNSF grain train - BNSF 7514 (ES44DC), BNSF 7364 (ES44DC), DPU: BNSF 3801 (ET44C4)

3:58 MRL K-LIVHLP (manned helper set) returning to Livingston - MRL 4315 (SD70ACe), MRL 290 (SDP40-2XR), MRL 4407 (SD70ACe)

4:58 Westbound BNSF grain train - BNSF 6957 (ES44C4), BNSF 3855 (ET44C4), DPU: BNSF 8016 (ES44C4), MRL helpers: MRL 4407, 290, & 4315

6:19 Eastbound BNSF double stack (Q-PTLALT9-05) - BNSF 8155 (ES44C4), BNSF 6944 (ES44C4)

7:54 Grain train from 4:58 at a second location

11:09 Grain train from 4:58 at a third location (DPUs only)

13:11 MRL K-LIVHLP returning to Livingston

14:29 MRL Livingston Local (R-MRL8411-05) - MRL 405 (GP35), MRL 404 (GP35), MRL 4306 (SD70ACe)

17:21 Westbound BNSF manifest freight - BNSF 7834 (ES44DC), BNSF 7384 (ES44DC), MRL helpers: MRL 4407, 290, & 4315

20:54 Westbound BNSF grain train - BNSF 8108 (ES44C4), other units unknown

Thanks for watching!

MRL's website: https://www.montanarail.com

My website: http://www.trinityrailproductions.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrinityRailProductions/
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/138382181@N06/

Видео Grain, 737s, helpers, and more! Railfanning Livingston, MT 10-5-16 // Trinity Rail Productions канала Trinity Rail Productions