The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn’t a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking.
All night there isn’t a train goes by,
Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming,
But I see its cinders red on the sky,
And hear its engine steaming.
My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I’ll not be knowing;
Yet there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take,
No matter where it’s going.
“Travel” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
How the railroads reached Montana
Montana historic railroad map:
Before the railroads arrived in Montana, the region was a distant and desolate place, occupying the northwestern corner of the vast Louisiana Purchase, which had only recently been explored by Lewis and Clark for the first time.
It was a place that you read about in frontier literature. However, the excitement and romance of life on the western frontier were fleeting.
Montana was difficult to reach in the summer, and even harder to leave in the Winter. To get here, you had to travel on horseback, wagon, or on foot. It was a dangerous route through tribal land, home to natives who resented the European intrusion.
Another option was to travel 2,600 miles (4,184 km) by steamboat up the Missouri River to Fort Benton, a booming military fort and trading post, considered the Chicago of the West. However, Montana’s rivers dried up in the summer.
Until the arrival of the railroads, Montana remained in a state of economic infancy. When the railroad finally arrived in Montana, it was the most transformative economic development in the state’s entire history.
Railroad surveys across Montana
In 1861, plans for a Transcontinental Railroad had been underway for 16 years.
At the time, it took five months to travel 2,000 miles (3,219 km) from the Missouri River to California by wagon. The proposed line would connect the East Coast to the West Coast, boosting economic development across the country and creating trade opportunities with Asia.
Congress debated whether the new line’s western terminus station should be a southern or northern city. In 1853, they authorized Secretary of War Jefferson Davis to manage surveys of the western U.S. to determine a suitable route to the Pacific.
Among the surveyors was Isaac Stevens, who surveyed the unorganized land of present-day Montana. Due to the harsh weather conditions, rough terrain, and the fact that it was unorganized land, Stevens abandoned the region as a potential route.
The creation of the Montana Territory in 1864 was part of an attempt to more effectively manage this wild and expansive area.
News of railroad lines to Montana sparks hope
In 1866, Congress decided on a route through the middle of the country from Omaha to Sacramento. The Union Pacific Railroad started in Omaha, while the Central Pacific Railroad started in Sacramento. In 1889, both lines met at Promontory Point, Utah, with Central Pacific Railroad president Leland Stanford pounding the last stake in the line.
The journey to Montana lay only 400 miles (249 km) north.
Building towards Montana
For decades, bullwhackers and their Murphy wagons had been traveling from Utah to Montana on the “Corrine Road”, a route along present-day I-15.They followed the trail north from Ogden, Utah, across the Bitterroot Mountains, and into the mining camps of southeastern Montana, delivering 5 tonnes of goods and equipment at a time.
In 1871, the Utah Northern Railroad started construction on the Ogden-Butte line, which would follow the same general path as the Corrine Road. Meanwhile, Congress had already approved the Northern Pacific Railroad, which was to connect St. Paul, Minnesota, and Seattle, Washington, via Montana.
News of both projects sparked hope among Montanans, but the Panic of 1873 halted both ventures.
First train to reach Montana
Within a couple years, the Utah Northern and Northern Pacific resumed operations, both under new financial management.
In 1877, the Utah Northern was bought out by Union Pacific under the direction of Sydney Dillon, (hence Dillon, Montana) and reincorporated as the Utah & Northern Railway.
Three years later, on May 9, 1880, the Utah & Northern’s 3-ft narrow-gauge line crossed the Continental Divide at Monida Pass on the Idaho-Montana border at 6,832 ft (10,995 km). It was the first line to reach Montana and the longest narrow-gauge track in the country.
On December 21, 1881, the first train rolled into Butte, Montana, one of the most prominent mining towns in the world at the time. Butte finally had a reliable means of transporting men, equipment, and other goods in and out of the town.
By this time, under the new financial management of Frederick Billings and Henry Dillard, the Northern Pacific had already reached Billings, which was now growing at an unprecedented pace.
Two years after the Utah & Northern reached Butte, the Northern Pacific reached its final destination of Gold Creek, Montana, just east of Missoula.
Railroads fuel Montana’s economy
Thanks to the railroads, new towns emerged and thrived all across the state. Before reaching Butte in 1881, the Utah & Northern stopped at a 465-acre ranch in southwest Montana known as “Terminus”.
As Terminus grew into a major transport hub for nearby mining towns, it was renamed Dillon. It was named after railroad president Sydney Dillon, who was largely responsible for the area’s economic development at the time.
When gold mines dried up in the late 1880s, many towns were left vacant. However, places like Dillon, Montana, had become railroad stop-off points for travelers headed west. The railroads also gave local farmers and ranchers access to out-of-state markets.
By 1882, Butte was producing 9 million pounds (4,082,331 kg) of copper thanks to the arrival of the railroads. Due to the arrival of the Northern Pacific, Billings garnered the nickname, the ‘Magic City’. Today, Billings is the largest city in the state.
Railroads across the state
In 1883, the Utah & Northern reached its final destination of Garrison, Montana.
On July 24, 1887, workers lined up along all 466 miles (750 km) of the three-foot narrow-gauge line from Ogden to Montana. Together, they widened it to four-foot standard gauge in one day.
By 1889, the Northern Pacific created the Butte short line, and by 1892, the Butte, Anaconda, & Pacific Railway was built to transport passengers and copper ore.
By 1893, the Montana Railroad line from east of Helena to central Montana was completed.
In 1889, James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railway was to be the northernmost transcontinental line to cross the U.S., from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, via Montana.
As the line crossed Montana’s Hi-Line, it enthusiastically promoted settlement along its lines, spurring towns like Havre and Glasgow.
The Great Northern Railway later merged with the Northern Pacific, the Burlington Northern, and the Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.
Together, they formed the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF). BNSF remains the largest railroad company in Montana, operating 59% of rail miles across the state. BNSF is also the largest freight network in the U.S., with 32,500 miles (52,300 km) of track across 28 states.
In 1908, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, & Pacific Railroad absorbed the Montana Railroad as it branched out across the state.
1900s: railroad decline in Montana
Despite its enormous growth, the popularity of the railroads in Montana didn’t last long. At its peak, Montana was home to three Chicago-Seattle main lines, and the state held the longest stretch of electrified rail lines in the country.
Since then, Montana has lost roughly 1,300 mi (2,092 km) of track, including hundreds of miles along Milwaukee Road’s Pacific Extension and much of the North Pacific and Great Northern branch lines.
Montana railroads today
Today, over 3,300 miles (5,311 km) of rail lines cross Montana, most of which are freight lines. Railroads carry most of Montana’s freight tonnage, including 48% of freight originating in-state.
Twelve companies operate freight trains on these tracks, including the BNSF, Union Pacific, and Central Montana Rail. Only one passenger line remains in the state today: Amtrak’s Chicago-Seattle line, which traverses northern Montana’s Hi-Line.
FAQ – Montana railroad history
Below you can find answers to commonly asked questions about Montana’s railroad history.
When did the railroad come to Montana?
The first railroad to arrive in Montana was the Utah & Northern Railroad’s narrow gauge line, which originated in Ogden, Utah, and arrived in Montana via Monida Pass on the State’s southwestern border on May 9, 1880.
The line continued, reaching Butte, Montana, in December 1881, and its terminus at Garrison, Montana, in 1883.
Who built the railroads in Montana?
Much of Montana’s present-day railroad tracks were constructed by the companies that first established railroads across the state in the late 1800s, such as the Utah & Northern Railway, the Great Northern Railroad, the Montana Railroad, and the Northern Pacific Railroad.
The Utah & Northern Railway first crossed into Montana from the southwestern border with Idaho, and the Great Northern Railroad first crossed into Montana from its eastern border with North Dakota.
The Great Northern Railway later merged with the Northern Pacific, Burlington Northern, and the Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad to form the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF), the largest railroad company in Montana and the United States.
Why did Montana need railroads?
Montana needed railroads as a reliable and fast means of transportation to connect Montana towns and Montana with other regions of the country.
Before the arrival of the railroads in Montana, the state was a vast, expansive region with harsh weather and extreme terrain in a distant northwestern region of the country.
Montana was only reachable by wagon, horseback, or foot along dangerous trails, or via steamboat up the Missouri before the rivers dried up in the summer.
With the arrival of railroads in Montana, the state acquired a much-needed means of quickly and reliably transporting people, equipment, and goods within Montana and between Montana and other regions of the country.
What was the first railroad in Montana?
The first railroad in Montana was the Utah & Northern’s narrow gauge line, which crossed from Idaho over Monida Pass into southwest Montana on May 9, 1880.
The Utah & Northern line reached Butte, Montana, in December 1881. Upon its completion, it was the longest narrow gauge railroad ever built, stretching 466 miles (750 km) from Ogden, Utah, to Garrison, Montana.
What town in Montana was settled by railroad?
Numerous towns in Montana were settled by the railroad, including Livingston, Kalispell, and Dillon.
When the Utah & Northern Railroad first crossed into Montana in 1880, it stopped at a small ranch in the beautiful Beaverhead Valley of southwestern Montana.
Named Terminus, the ranch became a main railroad transport hub for the region. As its population grew, it developed into a town with a strong economy and was later renamed Dillon. Today, Dillon remains one of Montana’s primary southwestern towns.
