All ABOARD???

Montana Charley’s posts keep evolving in format and style. The next two posts will feature proposals to re-establish passenger rail service through southern Montana. Trying to keep the weekly posts as brief as possible, you’ll see numerous links embedded in these posts directing you to more information. Also, more on the story will be posted on www.montanacharley.com.

Remember too that all of my posts are featured then archived at www.montanacharley.com!

Thanks!!!

Charley Pike

My friend Kenny has a saying: “A few billion here, a few billion there… pretty soon were talking real money!”

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All ABOARD???—Restoring the Hiawatha

Fish ON!—Walleye Whacker Contest Part #2

Book Sharing—Names on the Face of Montana

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The North Coast Hiawatha Amtrak route that ran from Chicago to Seattle was decommissioned in 1979. The Hi-Line’s Empire Builder is still in service.

Late last year the Federal Railroad Administration awarded the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority $500,000 to study restoration of Amtrak service through southern Montana. The focus is the North Coast Hiawatha route that ran 2,220 miles from Chicago to Seattle from 1971-1979.

The award was among dozens of similar grants from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

The proposed Hiawatha would follow the same general route along Interstates 94 & 90 as its predecessors. It would include up to 14 Montana station stops from Wibaux to Thompson Falls.

An Uncertain Existence

The North Coast Hiawatha and its predecessors began running through Montana in the early 1900s. For years the Hiawatha co-existed with Amtrak’s Empire Builder that still carries passengers through Montana’s “High Line.”

But both the Empire Builder and the Hiawatha, running through some of the least populated regions of the U.S., always endured an uncertain existence. On it’s route west of Minneapolis, the Hiawatha only ran three days a week. Sometimes Amtrak added daily service during the summer and holidays.

In 1977 after a rash of derailments Amtrak placed speed restrictions on it’s locomotives, adding seven hours between Chicago and Seattle.

In 1978 the Hiawatha recovered only $6 million in fares against service expenses of $24 million. Facing huge annual deficits Amtrak nationwide began cutting financially troubled routes.

In October 1979 the North Coast Hiawatha made it’s final run between Seattle and Chicago.

Over the years there have been numerous attempts to restore Montana’s “southern rail route” service. In 1982 Amtrak suggested North Dakota and Montana subsidize about 50% of the operating costs for three-day-a-week service between Fargo and Sandpoint. The proposal went nowhere.

A Billion Here, a Billion There…

Amtrak is a chartered corporation backed by the federal government as its majority stockholder.

In 2009 Amtrak estimated $1 billion would be necessary to re-launch Chicago-Seattle passenger rail with over $300 million for new locomotives and associated rolling stock.

Meanwhile Amtrak’s losses kept mounting. During the 2010s the federally chartered corporation reported annual revenues of about $2 billion versus costs of more than $4 billion. In 2020 and 2021 the agency was propped up with $3.7 billion in Pandemic-related federal aid.

In 2021 the Rail Passengers Association (RPA), an advocacy organization, recognized operating the North Coast Hiawatha would cost $68 million annually versus revenues of $41 million/year.

Climate Benefits/Greater Connectivity

But the RPA has a long list of benefits attributable to passenger rail. It says passenger rail reduces highway maintenance costs, saves fossil fuels and reduce CO2 emissions, while also reducing highway deaths.

The Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority is excited that a new Hiawatha route could prompt creation of “an important international connection” with a Calgary to Livingston corridor bringing big economic impact to Montana.

“With enough money and political will, anything is possible,” says the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority in it’s Passenger Rail Facts. “Everything is on the table.”

And, while current study models show the Hiawatha bypassing Butte in favor of Helena, there’s a push to serve both cities. Butte officials as well as BSPRA say the Mining City would also provide an important rail hub in a proposed Canada—Mexico corridor.

“Butte is one of our larger and vibrant cities, and it’s important that Butte gets service someway, somehow,” says BSPRA.

Economic Benefits / Increased Employment

And RPA and Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority say linking unserved Indian reservations to the nation’s Amtrak network would bolster tribal economic development. Federal law requires recognition of tribal interests in all government funded rail studies.

The RPA also notes that the seven states served by the proposed Hiawatha can expect $3.5 million annually in added tax receipts. Proponents note that station-related passenger and freight handling jobs could be significant to small communities.

RPA also claims the Hiawatha’s annual projected ridership of 426,000 would spend $270.6 million in communities along the Chicago to Seattle route.

For Montana BSPRA says the restored Hiawatha would “transform” the state.

"A lot of communities would be highlighted, and it would create a new resource for travel and more jobs, “says BSPRA. “We're in the preparation stages as we look ahead to this project being a reality in the next 5 to 7 years." 

This story will be continued next week with:

• Unconsidered Costs

• A Montana Conundrum

• Pulling on the Reins

• Oh But the Romance of it All…

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You can have your own three-piece collection of Charley's custom-made World Famous Walleye Whackers by winning this contest.

Find the answer and ask the question!

Beginning with last week’s post and ending with next week’s post you’ll find a link to an embedded answer about about anything walleye Montana. It’s like “Jeopardy” except you have to sleuth out the answer and then form the question. Send your question with the answer to [email protected].

Remember it’s a three-part contest. If you missed Answer #1 (April 29th post) you still have time to go back to www.montanacharley.com and look for it.

To help you out, there will be a clue!!!

Answer #2— Click this link to find the second answer.

Clue: It’s 35,200

Check next week’s post for the link to Answer #3. The person with the first correct three answers wins the set of custom-made World Famous Walleye Whackers.

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We’ve all heard of Two Dot, Ubet, and Roy; but, did you know there towns of Zero, Havana and Bagdad in Montana? Probably not. If you can get your hands on Names on the Face of Montana, you’ll be able to know things about those towns and hundreds of others that many of their residents don’t know!

Find how and the towns and cities—past and present—got their names and, meet the pioneers that settled the state.

Included in the final printing are sections covering the names of many of the Treasure State’s rivers, creeks, and mountains—along with new and old maps of Montana.

Names on the face of Montana was first published in 1971 after two years of research by author Roberta Carkeek Cheney.

The final 1983 printing of Names on the Face of Montana is available for $14 from the Montana Gift Corral and most Montana bookstores.