Montana
RailLink - (en)
Montana RailLink (AAR reporting marks MRL) is a privately held
Class II railroad in the United States. MRL, which operates on
trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway, is a
unit of the Washington Group of Companies headquartered in
Missoula, Montana.
The railroad runs between Billings, Montana and Sandpoint, Idaho,
largely within Montana, and the main line passes through the towns
of Missoula, Livingston, Bozeman, and Helena. Montana RailLink
connects with the BNSF, Montana Western and Union Pacific
railroads. The railroad has over 900 miles of track, serves 100
stations, and employs approximately 1,000 personnel. The main yard
is in Laurel, Montana while a smaller yard is in Missoula.
Montana RailLink's present status and main line date back to 1987,
when MRL under Missoula businessman Dennis Washington purchased
Burlington Northern's southern Montana main line between Sandpoint,
Idaho and Huntley, Montana. This spin-off was controversial as it
happened during contract negotiations between Burlington Northern
and the United Transportation Union. Workers are represented by
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
Montana RailLink is notable as one of the few railroads still
using cabooses, which are used to carry remote control switching
equipment.
On September 8, 2005, Montana RailLink took delivery of locomotive
number 4300, the first of 16 new EMD SD70ACe locomotives. This is
the first locomotive that the railroad has ordered new from a
manufacturer, and it and the rest of the class are intended to
replace aging SD40 and SD45 class locomotives on trains crossing
the Rocky Mountains.
