Montana Rail Link - Why is it going away? (Short Podcast)

[@Shortline819]

What does everyone think? It will be sad to see MRL go but I don't think BN should have leased the line to begin with. Correction the MRL lease expires in 2047 not 2049.

[@mikeytrains1]

I think it's an unfortunate loss for the regional scene. MRL was an interesting operation and I'll be sad to see it go since I didn't get to truly see it, but it's still good to see it was at least a decent operation while it lasted

[@alco251b9]

At least it was successful, which is why BNSF wants it.

[@Shortline819]

@@mikeytrains1 MRL was neat. Almost kind of a hidden regional because of stood beside it you'd probably swear it was a BNSF line considering all the haulage rights trains.

[@mikeytrains1]

@@Shortline819 My whole thing with it was that my mom has friends from her childhood that moved out rather close to the mainline out there, so it’s always been a must see for me. Nothing’ll really change there except a hell of a lot more orange if I do get out there probably, but I do I got to see MRL helper services and whatnot Still though, MRL was a good short. hope there’s a future ahead for the employees with BNSF

[@transistor281]

MRL employees now under our new point attendance guidelines lmao. Rip

[@BobaFett907]

As an MRL employee, it was originally leased out to break the unions out of the railroad, but that failed. We do service local customers and that will not likely change with BNSF. As far as passenger service, there has been talks and legislation passed to start Big Sky Line that would go from Billings to Missoula. I just hope to get to keep my job.

[@Shortline819]

Hope you keep your job too. You can never truly be sure about these things despite what those at the top say.

[@RailPreserver2K]

Do you think BNSF will keep one unit on hand at the Heritage unit by chance ?

[@Shortline819]

@@RailPreserver2K I hope so but considering that BNSF doesn't have heritage units almost certainly not.

[@SA-76234]

Bnsf can not run MRL SD70’s on the lead. They are just trail. Because of the non isolated cab. So they might stay panted that way for a long time.

[@BobaFett907]

They can run our SD70s as leads, especially our 4400 series. Why would they not be able to? We have taken them all the way to Spokane before.

[@ATSF1317]

The MRL paint scheme is so clean, 1 of the best imo. It will be sad to get it go.

[@Shortline819]

MRL's scheme is quite nice.

[@jamespowell7302]

Will remain on SRVI and SRBC.

[@0fficialdregs]

RIP one of my favorites!

[@lorenwillis425]

I remember when MRL was formed. Saw them painting old BN green boxcars on a siding near the Missoula cemetery with roller brushes into MRL blue.

[@nkp756]

Just came across your channel last week. Excellent presentation and info! Very informative. I miss watching the last of those wonderful MRL SD-45’s!

[@krakenwoodfloorservicemcma5975]

What will happen with the Livingston repair facility?

[@EvilMouse068]

MRL is the only rail line that actually keeps their locomotives clean. I hope BNSF keeps that standard up. Also i hope they don't repaint the MRL units especially the veterans and essential workers sd70 aces

[@0fficialdregs]

they wont

[@DavidLeon140m3]

Uncle Warren wanted the line back and he paid

[@brianburns7211]

A big point of BN’s spin-off of the NP was when Hunter Harrison was running the company. He made lots of cuts system wide as he did at IC, CN, CP, and CSX.

[@0fficialdregs]

so he's one of the reason the IC was bought. figures

[@dmcry600]

Hunter Harrison never ran the BN. And I am SO GLAD he never did!!!!! His way of running a railroad SUCKS!!!!!

[@dknowles60]

MRL is not a high profit rail road. it is a high cost rail road. it has a lot of helper districts. the main reason MRL is around is it would cost a lot more to double track the ex Gn route

[@Kansas-Trains]

They have what are called Employee Protection Conditions in the fine print that protects the employees from losing their jobs.

[@trainandtruckmodeler786]

Yeah just like us CC/IC and EJ&E guys ....we got all terminated

[@Kansas-Trains]

@@trainandtruckmodeler786 Well I don't know if I told you this or not but I worked for the GTW out of Markham and on the Elsdon Sub in Chicago. One of those requirements is that if you're job is eliminated and you have to move to another seniority list or terminal 90 miles or more you can take these Employee Protection. It will be in the STB rules on the merger. Do you have any documentation showing you're flat out of a job other than being a non-protected employee. I believe that you had to be employed prior to the hourly wage for 10 hours and OT after that until tied up. So where do you fail int6 the mix and what does your GC say?

[@trainandtruckmodeler786]

@@Kansas-Trains In my storage bin in Florida....I wouldn't have any interest in going back to any railway. That was well over 20 years ago and no concern to me anymore. I worked at Illinois Railnet afterward. I'm pretty much my own boss now, I make double what I made in the railway and only average 280 days working.....I would have to read the agreement but it's so far in history I wouldn't care.

[@trainandtruckmodeler786]

@@Kansas-Trains if I recall I had no option to move terminals then again this was 1995. I left in 1998 and scabbed at the Illinois Railnet. I was in and out so much on the Iowa division being laid off during off peak I would drive a semi dump for a friend in cash....I don't recall Markham belonging to the GT....this was IC in my days. I was out of Hawthorne which is forever gone .....

[@trainandtruckmodeler786]

@@Kansas-Trains and you never told me, I never chatted with you before. I'm not exactly young....a good 90 percent of the guys I worked with got hired when steam was still on the IC....a very large portion of my coworkers are long gone. I don't recall CN ever offering me anything but then again I was already having knee and back problems. Most if not nearly all my cartilage is gone on my left knee and the right ain't to far behind....I'm the generation on why getting on and off moving equipment is outlawed...as for the CN terminology on yards I wouldn't have a clue...they still letter cars for CC and GT, non of it makes sense to me.

[@TrainsAreReallyCool]

As sad as it is, it actually makes a ton of sense. MRL really doesn't have a purpose anymore, and unfortunately, never really did. I hope to get out there this summer and see them before they fade into history. I wish all the best for MRL's employees. I certainly hope they'll have a good future with BNSF.

[@cuda861]

Just a correction MRL used to run 25 or 30 trains a day. They started starving them out a couple years ago and running as much as possible on the north line. That combined with Dennys son wanting the money to get into crypto mining ended it all. I would be surprised if BN didn't take over before 2023.

[@jamtuazon5216]

Wonder what would happen to MRL’s roster once it is fully absorbed into BNSF, but I bet some will be bought by bnsf while the others would be sold off for lease, scrap or transferred to their sister system in the lower mainland of BC, SRY Rail Link and SVI Rail Link

[@alexschmollinger6576]

Rest in Peace Montana Rail link 1987 to 2022

[@0fficialdregs]

:((

[@RDC_Autosports]

i miss the lion head logo, took a trip out there in ‘07 just to see the ACe’s

[@edwinvalenzuela3446]

The Great Warren Buffett our finance guru.

[@montanamornings8526]

Do you think this has anything to do with passenger service coming back to that track?

[@Shortline819]

No.

[@franzbrunner499]

This short podcast should give the answers. SHORT ?! 9 min for something that could be said in 3 min max

[@RonStanek]

Sad to see MRL go. 😪

[@cobraspottedwolf8791]

I'm going to plan a trip to Mullen pass soon!

[@Shortline819]

Good luck and get some great shots!

[@williamwargo3066]

Does anyone know what is going to happen to Southern Railway of British Columbia ?????

[@jamtuazon5216]

Probably will stay in service, nothing new happened yet but the only significant thing they are doing is that they are replacing most of the horns on their locomotives with raised letter K5LA’s

[@rebelbaron7003]

Frankly I cant imagine any railroad executive authorizing passenger service lines ANYWHERE. Im a big fan of passenger trains but face it,you cannot make money on passenger service. Period.

[@robarmstrong1348]

Has the MRL developed the manifest traffic much better than the BN or BNSF could ever do ? Have they made it more profitable and BNSF wants it back to reap the benefits ? If so i doubt they will be able to sustain it like the smaller guys

[@cobraspottedwolf8791]

Great video. Thanks

[@Shortline819]

Thanks! These rail news videos are fun to make and they do quite good as well. I'll plan on making a few more that hopefully aren't slapped together in 30 minutes.

[@cobraspottedwolf8791]

@@Shortline819 I live in Billings Montana so the MRL lease is very interesting to me.

[@nuc9901]

Another "Oops, never mind!" for management, like outsourcing IT and other "realignments." I don't know anything about the union-busting aspect of the agreement to lease the old NP to MRL, but I am sure that this latest move has absolutely nothing to do with Dennis Washington's retirement fund. Please. A likely factor is a desire by BNSF to have a bigger say in capacity planning and capital projects. BNSF has resources well beyond anything the Washington Group can muster. MRL has done a good job of maintaining existing plant but BNSF has a broader view of the railroad.

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

Well, at least it was fun while the MRL lasted. I wish I could have seen the MRL running while it still existed.

[@Shortline819]

I hope to get up there before it's over. We still don't have dates for anything yet so it could be a year or two.

[@richharris9489]

This sucks im from Boston and i wanna check them out .

[@0fficialdregs]

big business sickens me.

[@chip9177]

Nothing wrong with hauling for BNSF - Washington was just getting in the middle for a little.

[@Shortline819]

Washington is truly the winner in all of this. BNSF is getting back what BN never should have given up with to begin with.

[@whiteknightcat]

I'm guessing this will now doom the plans to re-establish passenger service along the former NP route from Seattle through Montana and into the Dakotas and eastward.

[@Shortline819]

If anything I'd imagine this help the North Coast Limited revival efforts along since Amtrak now has to deal with one railroad instead of two. Plus, BNSF and Amtrak have had a good relationship as of late.

[@qjtvaddict]

@@Shortline819 if it’s not fast it’s another useless once a day line

[@phreshone1]

What dooms it is the sheer scale and emptiness of Montana, and the inventions of the car and aeroplane....

[@consanna]

The was no sale and no buy back. The Burlington Northern leased the line to MRL. The BNSF paid 3 Billion to end the lease early. MRL took the money the rest is history. The BNSF has plans to expand the former NP. They have replaced track with concrete ties from Tacoma to Sand point. They have built a second bridge at The funnel. There going to be further expansion of the line including longer sidings, double track and straightening the line where possible. The BNSF has plans.

[@Philios2Glory1]

I believe it was leased out; not sold

[@Shortline819]

If I said sold I meant leased.

[@allanblain9302]

MRL is not going away. KCS is not going away. They're remaining viable rail networks, just under new management and a new name. A rai line, or rail company, only goes away if the physical network is abandoned. Merger and consolidation can be a good thing when done correctly. Not a loss, but a gain. There are only two rail networks than span the continent east to west, and they're not in the US. Now there's one network that spans the continent north to south. North American railways need to balance between being too big and not to fractured.

[@tzrr-nsnyswmodellingmore2821]

nice video!

[@Shortline819]

Thanks!

[@thomassaunders1749]

I'm definitely checking out Montana this summer before BNSF scraps those big blue engines

[@bushranger51]

I don't think that BNSF would scrap many MRL's locos, probably just re-livery them into BNSF and re-number them into the BNSF fleet. Of course what they don't want they will probably sell to other operators.

[@RascalTrainz]

The SD70aces are probably going to be absorbed into bnsf

[@Mark-MRL]

@@bushranger51 What MRL should do if BNSF lets them is send the GP35's, and SD40-2s up to SRY Rail Link to replace some of the older GP9's and SD38AC's.

[@voidwalker9223]

@@RascalTrainz but doesn't BNSF perfer GE's? maybe better if they sell them and buy more Tier 4 GEs

[@keatonsparksvideoproductions]

Sry rail link still exists so come visit them

[@Shortline819]

I would but I'm on the other side of the continent...

[@pbear6251]

@@Shortline819 take the train to get there!! 🤣

[@Shortline819]

@@pbear6251 I'd have to take Metro into DC, the Adirondack to Montreal, then the Canadian west. It sounds like a lot of fun but I sadly don't have the time or money!

[@pbear6251]

@@Shortline819 sorry to hear that, it looks like I am ahead of you on that because all I need to do is get on the VIA 1 and get off at the other end 😀

[@bradhardy2629]

Dennis Washington formed The scab link IMRL Bought out the old Milwaukee Road / Sooline corn lines and screwed all of us employees who stayed I hope he and the C.P. reap what they sew a thousand times . And rail buffs who think it's sad for a scab railroad to disappear WRONG .

[@kodachrome9319]

Thank you for at least giving me credit for the thumbnail photo.

[@Shortline819]

To be honest. I threw together the thumbnail in five minutes. I've tried to use copyright free photos for the thumbnails in my other videos but this was the first one so it was a mess. In retrospect I should have asked beforehand before using it.

[@kodachrome9319]

@@Shortline819 Oh, I'm not mad at all. So many people just use without giving credit. Don't sweat it.

[@Shortline819]

why does this have 3.3k views

[@thebluehero2219]

Another nice paint scheme, company and diversity gone. The future is going to be one standardized boring place

[@isaiahlawrence443]

It died of ball fart

[@Shortline819]

It died of pointlessness

[@pbear6251]

@@Shortline819 it didn't die, it had to take time to gather steam you might say