At Lombard, MT the Milwaukee Road interchanged with the Northern Pacific Railroad and the town thrived by being served by two railroads. Two depots served the small community and the passenger trains that traveled through. In the B&W photo an early Milwaukee Road passenger train crosses the large, curving bridge over the Missouri River on its journey to points east. Soon this part of the Milwaukee would convert to electrical running with boxcabs and Little Joes. By the mid-1950s Lombard had begun to decline in importance to the railroads and slowly it began to pass away into history. When the Milwaukee abandoned their Lines West in 1980, Lombard had already withered away. The Northern Pacific line is now operated by Montana Rail Link and the east end of the old Milwaukee bridge has been removed for clearance issues. A sad, but beautiful area in the Treasure State.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 02:20:57 +0000