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Amtrak is criticizing a proposal by Elon Musk to privatize the national passenger railroad, which was created in 1971 after private freight railroads gave up offering passenger service railfan.com/amtrak-priva... Latest for Railfan & Railroad Magazine

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The Flathead Valley had been a destination for Albertans for decades. But the pandemic, the increasing cost of living in Montana and now the threat of a trade war have taken a toll montanafreepress.org/2025/03/06/t... Latest for @montanafreepress.org #MTNews

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Happy Wedge Day! Every year on March 4, the Center for Railroad Photography & Art and others celebrate the foundational railroad photo, the wedge shot! Here's my 2022 Camera Bag column for Railfan & Railroad about the classic frame.

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Kalispell poised to settle lawsuit with warming shelter montanafreepress.org/2025/02/27/k... City tentatively agrees to pay the Flathead Warming Center’s legal fees and allow it to stay open. Latest for @montanafreepress.org

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The Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway LLC operated its first train to Potlatch, Idaho, on February 21, bringing rail service to the north central Idaho community for the first time in nearly eight years railfan.com/idaho-short-... Latest for Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

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Minnesota’s Northstar commuter rail operation could be nearing the end of the line railfan.com/end-of-the-l... Latest for Railfan & Railroad.

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Metra has donated one of the last surviving F40C locomotives to the Illinois Railway Museum. The locomotive, which has been stored in Chicago for over a decade, was moved to the museum in Union, Ill., on Sunday railfan.com/metra-donate... Latest for Railfan & Railroad Magazine

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The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum in Sugarcreek, Ohio, has completed its cosmetic restoration of Bessemer & Lake Erie 2-10-4 643. The locomotive will make its public debut on March 29, during Age of Steam’s Member Day railfan.com/cosmetic-res... Latest for Railfan & Railroad Magazine

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It's me...

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The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has approved a BNSF plan that will provide funding for grizzly bear conservation in Montana in return for a permit allowing it to “take” 19 of the federally protected animals over seven years montanafreepress.org/2025/02/14/f... Latest for @montanafreepress.org

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The Mid-Continent Railway Museum’s decades-long effort to restore Chicago & North Western R-1 Class 4-6-0 1385 to service is in the home stretch railfan.com/restoration-... Latest for Railfan & Railroad

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Charlo residents warned about elevated manganese in water montanafreepress.org/2025/02/06/c... State and local officials said the water is still safe for most people and that elevated manganese is more common in Montana than many people know. Latest for @montanafreepress.org #MTnews

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Amid shifting political winds in Washington, D.C., and aging equipment across the country, passenger rail in Montana faces an uncertain future.

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Are passenger trains entering a golden age or reaching the end of the line? montanafreepress.org/2025/02/05/a... A deep dive for the @montanafreepress.org about the state of passenger rail in Montana.

submitted 31 days ago • 5 comments

The Rockhill Trolley Museum added two historic Pennsylvania trolley cars to its collection in January. The cars were donated by the family of the late Wendell Dillinger, founder of the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad railfan.com/rockhill-tro... Latest for Railfan & Railroad

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Railroading on Montana's Marias Pass has never been for the faint of heart—especially in winter. But for the last 20 years, it has been a little safer thanks to a unique avalanche forecasting program. www.railwayage.com/mw/bnsf-vs-m... Check out my latest for Railway Age Magazine.

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Western Maryland Scenic is partnering with the PBS program Great Scenic Railway Journeys to raise money to restore 2-8-0 locomotive 734, which last operated in 2016 railfan.com/western-mary... Latest for Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

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The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Boulder City, Nev., recently completed the restoration of a rare switcher that was used in the construction of the Hoover Dam railfan.com/switcher-tha... Latest for Railfan & Railroad

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A local BNSF Railway freight train headed north on a foggy morning earlier this month. Check out more from this recent chase (and some other stuff I'm working on) over at my Substack. justinfranz.substack.com/p/foggy-morn... And if you like what you see, consider subscribing!

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A push for tougher DUI laws comes amid a recent spike in fatal drunk-driving incidents in northwest Montana, including four fatal accidents that are being investigated as DUIs between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day montanafreepress.org/2025/01/17/n... Latest for @montanafreepress.org

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Forest Service seeking public input on long-awaited Flathead River plan montanafreepress.org/2025/01/16/f... The agency will host two sessions next week to gather public feedback on how to manage the three forks of the protected river. Latest for @montanafreepress.org

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Stocking Up at Park Provisions flatheadbeacon.com/2025/01/13/s... After selling popular pies out of their Coram bar, Stacey and Seth Schnebel decided to turn the restaurant next door into the “one-of-a-kind” Park Provisions. Latest for Flathead Living Magazine.

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The EPA’s plan for the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company site along the Flathead River comes 15 years after the plant closed and eight years after it was added to the national Superfund list.

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“We’re obviously disappointed that the EPA has put Glencore’s interests over those of the Columbia Falls community" montanafreepress.org/2025/01/13/e... Local group reacts to news that EPA is backing a plan to leave toxic waste at site of a Columbia Falls Superfund. Latest for @montanafreepress.org

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The Maine Department of Transportation announced on January 9, that Maine Switching Services had been selected as the new operator of the state-owned Rockland Branch between Brunswick and Rockland railfan.com/maine-select... Latest for Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

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The bright and colorful historic streetcars that rumble down San Francisco’s Market Street and along its waterfront could be on the chopping block as the city’s transportation agency faces a “fiscal cliff" railfan.com/budget-cuts-... Latest for Railfan & Railroad Magazine.

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Kenneth ‘Britt’ Cotter resigned last month after learning he was the subject of a criminal investigation into alleged cocaine use.

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An investigation by the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation found that Kenneth Britton “Britt” Cotter, 48, had tried to purchase cocaine on multiple occasions between March 2022 and May 2023 montanafreepress.org/2025/01/08/f... Latest for @montanafreepress.org #MTnews

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It's that time of year again, the time for "best of" stories and galleries to fill the aimless final days of the year. Here's a look at some of my favorite railroad photos from the last 12 months. Be sure to check out the entire set on my Substack... justinfranz.substack.com/p/2024-a-yea...

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Since 2019, students at Columbia Falls High School have helped build cabins for employee housing and other important structures for Glacier National Park. This school year, the students are finishing their sixth two-bedroom cabin for the park and their 13th structure overall.

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The Izaak Walton Inn, a beloved old railroad lodge on the southern edge of Glacier National Park, has been freshened up under new management. Latest for Flathead Living Magazine flatheadbeacon.com/2024/12/24/a...

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Last week my wife had a conference in Seattle so my son and I tagged along to spend a few days riding trains around the city. Here are a few favorites I got along the way (or at least what I could get while carting a 9-month-old around).

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Before Lake Koocanusa could be filled up behind the dam, the Army Corps had to build three new schools; expand Libby’s airport; relocate 52 miles of highway; move 59 miles of railroad; and resettle the entire town of Rexford flatheadbeacon.com/2024/12/10/t... Latest for Flathead Living Magazine

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After successfully deploying a prototype in Alberta, CPKC is testing its newest hydrogen-powered locomotive on heavy line haul coal trains in the mountains of British Columbia www.railwayage.com/mechanical/l... Latest (and first) for Railway Age Magazine.

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"His pictures tell it as it was" www.trains.com/ctr/communit... A great story from Kevin P. Keefe about the Center for Railroad Photography & Art's new book "Burlington’s Spectacular Steam Program" featuring the incredible photojournalism of John Gruber.

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County officials have invoiced Montana to help cover the cost of law enforcement on the Flathead Reservation. So far, the state hasn’t paid.

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Officials in Lake County have billed the state of Montana nearly $1 million this year to help cover the cost of law enforcement on the Flathead Indian Reservation montanafreepress.org/2024/12/02/s... So far the state hasn't paid up. Latest for @montanafreepress.org

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Years after most railroads retired steam locomotives, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy used them to haul excursions. Sixty years later, the Center for Railroad Photography & Art has a new book with rarely seen images of these runs by photojournalist John Gruber railphoto-art.org/burlington-b...

submitted 101 days ago • 1 comment