Circumstance has me in Montana for a non railfan reason, but I'm not going to not shoot the MRL. Had a good chase with LM today had just finished shooting a helper push a grain train up Bozeman and then run light down to Livingston. Dispatcher called the helper crew and told them that LM was just out of Laurel, and with that I was off to try to get to the Twin Bridges before LM:
1) LM crossing the Yellowstone River at what on the RR is near Craver, but the map calls it Twin Bridges because there used to be an old highway bridge blocking the RR bridge. I shot them up close in 2018, and although the pair was a nice shot, the removal opens up several new shots unobstructed (except by trees).
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2) Just RR west of Big Timber LM passes the Crazy Mountains approaching a meet with an empty coal train at Carney. Between the Twin's and Livingston they met three EB's.
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3) One of the more scenic locations on MRL's second Sub is this location a little east of Elton where the Yellowstone River makes a sharp turn west in this mini-canyon.
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4) On the home stretch to Livingston now, the old NP put some distance between it and the river in this open valley. Not listed on the timetable anymore as far as I know, this location was the junction with a branch to White Sulphur Springs. Abandoned and the mainline switches removed, the branch itself is still in tact for whatever reason. In 2018 I followed it as far north as Wilsall.
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This is only my third trip to the MRL, but boy am I going to miss it.
