I Found An Abandoned Railroad Townsite That Had Seemingly Vanished

Looks like an old shot up Bonnie and Clyde’s car😂

NP merged with Burrington Northern in 1970 and then BN merged with ATSF to become BNSF in 1990s. Milwaukee went out of business in 1980s and what's left is now CPKC. Parts of the Millwaukee Road in western end of the country were electrified and was abandoned earlier.

Ex Milwaukee Road Which Went Bankrupt in 1980 Sadly 😥

It would be awesome to see the place cleaned up and opened back up with a hotel and a small grocery store. Maybe a camping spot.

You sure have nice 4K cameras!

The other road is the railroad ROW access road

Seeing in the middle of absolutely no where you see these massive hardened sites and people lived there.
They had 2 dozen people on each shift working 24/7

Before the 1970s with satellites taking over from ground based microwave and buried c cables, these communication sites were critical for phone, aircraft, and the military.

If you were talking from one coast to another you were going through these sites.
So much infrastructure

The power lines feed the communication facilities and the railroad.
The 1950s Rural Electrification Act had new lines run all over America

With ATCS Monitor you can get the data from the control points and know if a train is coming

What an interesting town area I mean all the work that was done just to the railroad alone is amazing that he have this town. I just kind of disappeared. Very interesting. Thanks.

Awesome video just like all your videos I’ve seen 👍🏻 how far from a town/city is this? And what river is that??

That is a critical wetland in the desert
All the wildlife needs it to live

There must have been an iron furnace nearby that used the coke

Years ago when the railroads took care of their employees being an engineer or conductor was a great job and you got to see beautiful places that other people don't get to see

Interesting Thanks for sharing

Small towns are disappearing everywhere. Looks just like it was planned

Roads for what , other than horse and wagon , everything relied on and traveled by the railroad . Towns and cities grew up supported by the railroad.

This channel is great. Awesome exploring with some history lessons. It would be cool to watch you catch a freight and film your ride to other places with their own history and stories.

I just found your channel. Thank you for sharing. Your voice and demeanor remind me of the late Andrew "Desert Drifter." 🏜 I will be back!

Looks like a 37 Chevy Sedan

Love your informative style!...And Greta is the perfect companion...so curious, but also smart enough to not get herself hurt! And amazingly, you see only one Bull snake! I would think those hills would be full of rattlers.

Rail ties have a nail now n then that has the date code on them. Some fetch a high price.

good ol carp spawn. You wont be catching them on a hook , better luck with a bow!

This old man really appreciates your work. Thank you. 🙂

The fire may have been caused by lightening. Huge chunks of metal make for good lightening rods.

It shut down in 1957. The year Iwas born nov.17th that would be a good trip for us two old men tha old town and me❤😮😅

It appears that the bridge was removed when they started using those Auto Racks, they look pretty damn close to the tops of those piers.

Absolutely awesome filming and drone coverage, love your adventures of Montana history. Watching from Christchurch New Zealand. Cheers Bryan.

It's a shame that the man lost his life but it's no reason to dismantle that bridge. I think the rail cars were getting taller. What river is that??

Thanks for sharing another great video! Ive hung out here many times and enjoyed the peace. Definately a special place to me. Useful resources for a modeller who cant get out as much anymore! I miss hanging out on the GN line north from Butte as well, thanks for your coverage of that, its always been a topic of intrigue for me since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Be safe out there and take care!

Grafiti even in the middle of nowhere. A damn shame.

Beautiful

I know where you are in this video. The Milwaukee crossed over the NP, now BNSF, and the river. Awesome!

So tragic that Chicago Milwaukee St Paul & Pacific had to close (& abandon most of) their Pacific Coast Extension (and many accompanying branches) in 1980. Constructed a bit later in the game compared to some of its competitors (completed c.1910) it was beautifully constructed and very scenic. Today, many hundreds of bridges of varying styles and lengths on the Pacific extension are now partially removed or gone altogether, so it’s always nice to encounter one that’s still standing!

Those coking kilns were awesome. Incredibly beautiful scenery my friend. Thanks for taking us along on your spectacular journeys. Keep safe always 🙏

When you find piles of ties, usually several will have date nails. 2 digits for the year on the nail heads (I. e., "32" or "40" or whatever for 1932, 1940) for when that section of track was inspected or ties were replaced. You're normally going to find them on the ends of the ties.

So much graffiti in the bridge and in the tunnel. Way out there in the middle of what should be just history. Disappointing.

Nice vehicle. I've got a 2018 4Runner Off Road that I use to explore with.

Rail line was not electrified, those are telegraph remnants you are looking at.

To me, it's a knee-jerk reaction to remove a structure because there was an accident. Typical RR thinking, i guess. UP dose ot all the time.
EDIT: BNSF might have removed it for double stack clearance.

That old car looks to be a 1936 chevy

FWIW, The Milwaukee went under in the late '70's. Northern Pacific merged with the Great Northern and several smaller railroads in 1968, forming Burlington Northern. BN bought up the trackage rights Milwaukee had, and occasionally looks at viability options. Highly unlikely that particular will ever reopen, but there it is.
Still looking even after the BN-SF merger. Only so many routes over/through the Cascades.

Jack, what another beautiful scenic ride along with your viewers. You and Greta got a good workout on this trek. I love the old bridges and like you said they don't build them like that any longer. Enjoyed this immensely and congratulations on 20K subscribers!