Great Northern RDC 2350 - Helena, Montana to Butte, 1950's

[@steeplecab]

The video starts with a railroad-westbound run arriving at the last GN Helena depot from Great Falls. Note the Scratchgravel Hills in the background. Malfunction Junction is behind the camera, and when a train was crossing, it really WAS. The big steel trestle is the Corbin Trestle still standing without a deck just north of Corbin. This is followed by the long Amazon Tunnel. The tracks hold high up on the north side of the Boulder River to maintain their elevation climbing up to Basin. At 3:28 we see the tunnel east of Basin. The piers for the bridge still stand in the river, but the interstate crosses in front of the tunnel, although the curved tunnel still remains. Next comes the mining town of Basin followed by the S curves through the Boulder River Canyon to the southwest. After Bernice (not included) the tracks climb up the side of Bison Creek to get to Elk Park. The tunnel at 4:27 is at 46.19890,-112.34739 and was later used briefly as a detour while they were building the interstate through that spot. This is followed by passing the old ice ponds on the right at 4:42 and opening up into Elk Park. The old highway would be on the left there. The run across Elk Park was straight and fairly level and the engineer appears to be letting the unit stretch her legs a little. The long siding is Woodville with the film cutting away before the summit ahead. The video picks up again just below the Monitor Tunnel at 5:43 and shows the loop up Silver Bow Creek and back down. Unfortunately the video ends here and doesn't show old McQueen and East Butte.

[@kenlongmore]

I came out west for the very 1st time traveling to Idaho Falls, ID from Minnesota. I had never been in the mountains before and I remember falling asleep only to awaken between Helena and Butte just as we were crossing that magnificent trestle. It scared the hell out of me! I was 18 years old.

[@graugger5918]

I've been looking for footage or images of the Monitor Tunnel neary Butte MT as the tunnel has been overtaken by the mining operations in the area. Sadly there appears to be no footage of the tunnel in this video if there's any more video and the Monitor tunnel is in it, it may very well be the only imagery of it. Additional: Can confirm this appears to head to Butte. 0:49 Sign says Jefferson, assuming this means Jefferson City this is south of Helena. 1:05 Trestle appears to be the one still standing at 46°22'50.44"N , 112° 4'8.79"W 2:07 Appears to have the same stone bricks extending from the sides at the tunnel portal at 46°20'11.78"N , 112° 7'2.92"W 2:44 Rocks can be identified from street view of I15 giving the rocks a coordinate of 46°14'18.28"N , 112° 9'10.02"W 3:35 I15 is now situated above this tunnel just yards away. The 1912 is just barely visible in this video above the portal, I had to verify based on the stone protrusion to the right of the tunnel. 46°15'58.10"N , 112°13'10.43"W 4:24 Presumably the tunnel at 46°11'59.51"N , 112°20'48.51"W based of the train is just finishing coming around a curve at the start of this segment of the video. 5:28 Likely Woodville "Station" based on inspecting the hills in the background compared to I15 street view looking in the same direction. 46° 3'8.27"N , 112°26'46.07"W 6:18 This portion of the track is most probably the portion of the old trackbed now underneath the largest tailings pond in Butte. 46° 2'56.55"N , 112°30'7.55"W

[@MikeDunhamWilkie]

Thanks for all the info! My dad took this film before I was born and I saw it for the first time after he’d passed away. He was concerned that showing a film with a hot projector would damage the films over time.

[@onie41]

South bound from Helena into Butte.. Thanks for putting this piece of history on for everyone to view.

[@Zincon48]

Thanks for uploading this. For anyone curious, the line coming into Butte in Woodville Canyon is gone; the tunnel going through Woodville Hill has been obliterated by mining, and the track and roadbed from there all the way to the old Great Northern roundhouse are gone. The upper section of said track is buried under Yankee Doodle tailings and over 800 feet of tailings. The lower section was consumed by the Berkeley Pit. You can see the original track route just off Continental street where it hits the edge of the pit.

[@MikeDunhamWilkie]

+Zincon48 Thanks for the info.

[@Littlun17]

+Zincon48 If I understand correctly, the line was abandoned and torn out in the early 70's. I've only known it as a railbed that "leads nowhere" once it hits Butte. Do you by any chance know how this line circumvented the Berkeley Pit during its final years of service?

[@Zincon48]

Littlun17 Basically, the Anaconda Company rerouted the part of the Great Northern line where the Pit now is sometime in the late 50's when ACM expanded the excavation south and east of where it started. They moved part of the line off the Butte hill, and rebuilt it just north of the Concentrator on an east-west axis. Then the line skirted the east edge of the Pit, and from there headed north up the valley to the existing line, which was never threatened by the Pit. I edited an older map of Butte to give you a visual idea of how the Great Northern line coming into Butte was laid out, though it's not exact: imgur com/Nyx6tlK As an aside, thank you for having an interest in this. I think it's fascinating, though very few people care or are interested in the history of Butte and what was lost with the Berkeley Pit.

[@Littlun17]

+Zincon48 Thank you so much for the reply, and of course the map! I would've never guessed they rerouted the line. But I find abandoned railroads fascinating, and with the way little bits of them are peppered throughout Butte, I can't help but wonder about some of them!

[@andyevans9369]

Zincon48 h

[@kenmartin9227]

Great video

[@deadfreightwest5956]

Marvelous. This is so rare! This is why recording the "mundane" is so important. None of this exists today. It's not just the closing of a chapter in history, the chapter was torn out and lost.

[@djWarp6]

Definitely going to Butte!!! Thank you so much for the footage!

[@tomlayton3062]

I saw the Helena depot only once from that RDC (1957) but it seemed larger. The Great Northern Hotel is built on the former site. Lots of GN stuff in the hotel, but no pix of the Helena GN depot. I was under the impression the GN depot was about the same size as the NP station in Helena.

[@steeplecab]

Tom, you're remembering the big depot at the end of the Gulch. This depot is a later depot down by the intersection of Lyndale and Montana. Behind the cameraman the tracks went across the middle of a five way intersection, earning it the name "Malfunction Junction", especially when a train was crossing.

[@pgo1972]

the descent into Butte is amazing!

[@kurtarmbruster]

Interesting to compare the speeds here and on very similar rail in Norway in recent times!

[@MUEagle2002]

My family is from Butte...I recongize those scenes. It's neat to see the GN depot in Helena. I take it this was the later version, asi think they tore down the earlier version. If someone knows more please address....

[@montanatom1950]

:50 is near Jefferson City,Montana. 1:14 is the trestle at Corbin,Montana. 2:09 is the Amazon Tunnel. 3:34 is Tunnel #7 just east of Basin,Montana. This is now visible from I-15. 3:48 is Basin,Montana. 4:48 is entering Elk Park.

[@shotmak90]

That's correct. I lived in Basin Mar-88 to June 89. Climbed all thru these tunnels when I live there and drove my Rubicon thru the Amazon tunnel (over a mile) in 2014. Now live in Omaha but still love to go back and explore. Amazing footage. So grateful to have seen this

[@HelenaCelt]

Great job capturing the locations. I own a piece of property that includes the old right of way between Boulder and Basin at High Ore. Nice to see what it was like.

[@wizardofodds8239]

When did 'Amazon' purchase the tunnel, and where'd it go? Did they sell it online??

[@fireguy1000000]

Awesome footage!!

[@gearedsteam12]

Plus the Berkely Pit is shown at 5:49 as they arrive at Butte.

[@marvinwatkins8889]

Those RDC's could really haul on the straightaways.

[@DerekDtj]

The 2350 was sold to BC Rail, where it became lead car #31 for many years. My wife and I rode on it several times from N. Vancouver, BC up to Prince George, or on a couple of shorter trips to Lillooett and Kelly Lake. I still remember standing in the baggage door and looking down over Deep Creek trestle, quite a drop! When BC Rail went bankrupt/out of business, the car was sold to the Oregon Dept. of Transportation. At last recall it was running a daily trip from Portland to Astoria, OR and return. Does anyone know if it is still running anywhere?

[@WSUFlyingbeta]

It is currently sitting battered and bruised in Emmett, ID

[@larryhoffman9481]

First part is from Butte through Jefferson Canyon.

[@kurtarmbruster]

Wow, that's a treat--beats the mainline all to hell for scenery!

[@gearedsteam12]

Heading south to Butte, the curved trestle at 1:30 and tunnel at 1:53 are not on the GN line to Helena.

[@ebtrr]

I disagree. The trestle is the one at Corbin, and the tunnel is Tunnel #6, the long one between Portal and Amazon. Both are on the GN line between Helena and Butte.

[@shotmak90]

You are Correct Sir. that's the Corbin trestle

[@tomlayton3062]

From the first frame showing the Helena depot and the arriving RDC, by the angle of the sun and the fact that the depot was on the RIGHT hand side as you were going North...I'd say in THIS scene, the RDC is on its way to Great Falls. It's late afternoon in winter and the RDC would arrive in Great Falls between 3:30-5PM having left Butte in the early afternoon.

[@conrailwitty]

It's going to Butte.

[@MikeDunhamWilkie]

@MrPtofrocks Thanks for the info.

[@kenmartin9227]

Whatwas the location of the Helena Depot?

[@MikeDunhamWilkie]

Thanks Tom

[@johnbreau1555]

This train is headed south to Butte.

[@MikeDunhamWilkie]

@jakobsara1 Thanks very much for the information!

[@MrPtofrocks]

looks like Butte Montana passed Jefferson...

[@stickynorth]

I'm from just across the border in Alberta, when was this line abandoned? If anything, it should be revived for regional inter-city DMU/EMU service between the major cities of Montana like Big Sky Rail proposes... Plus it could be critical in the Los Angeles-Las Vegas-Salt Lake-Montana-Calgary-Edmonton high speed rail... Which at least half of which is currently under proposal as of this moment i.e. Los Angeles-Las Vegas with an extension to Salt Lake AND... A 350 km/h Edmonton-Calgary HSR link was given a MOU by the province last week and the newly created Canadian Infrastructure Bank is looking to finance a sh*t ton of new projects across the nation...

[@graugger5918]

The Butte area has changed a lot since this video. Most of the descent into Butte has been taken over by a pit mine the largest part of which is now abandoned and flooding. There is actually a problem in Butte with the mine water approaching the water table, you can find lots of videos on it here on KZbin.

[@Littlun17]

It was abandoned in the early 70s.

[@andrewwerner2061]

Darn can't hear anything.