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In the eighth episode of US Rail Journeys our traveller continues his journey on the Empire Builder from Havre to Red Wing by the majestic Mississippi.
The first stop in this episode is at Havre in Montana. Passengers can take an ‘air break’ here. Whilst at the station our traveller views Great Northern loco 2584. This S2 4-8-4 locomotive ran on oil and was in service from 1930 to 1957. The S2 class pulled the Oriental Limited and Empire Builder trains. Find out more about the S2 class here.
Whilst in Havre a long freight train passes through the station. The trucks are loaded with containers two high. I hope they don’t find any low tunnels! More about Havre Station here.
Our journey continues across mile upon mile of grain fields. The prairie really is vast. It is mainly flat but occasionally you can see hills in the distance. The journey continues past the occasional farmstead and we frequently see grain silos.
The scenery changes as we reach the Milk River with trees along the riverbank. The train passes through Malta and on to Glasgow. After leaving Glasgow we pass large grain silos beside the tracks. The grain is loaded in to trains from these silos before being taken away.
The journey continues through Montana with the train passing through Wolf Point, past derelict cars at the bottom of some gardens. The route passes close to the historic Fort Union Trading Post (more here) around 25 miles from our next stop at Williston in North Dakota.
After our stop in Williston the night draws in. Overnight we pass through a string of stations before arriving at Union Station, St Paul, in the morning (details here). The station serves the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
After leaving St. Paul we soon meet the mighty Mississippi which we travel alongside for the rest of this episode.
The episode concludes during the morning when the Empire Builder reaches Red Wing for a short stop where the carriages stop across the level crossing.
Click on any of the ‘thumbnails’ below to open the photograph gallery.
Join us in two weeks for the next episode where our traveller continues his journey from Portland to Chicago aboard the Empire Builder.
Full size copies of the photographs taken by MrT are available from Flickr, Facebook and some through Instagram.
The theme music Steam Railway is used under licence from AKM Music.
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© The MrT Podcast Studio 2017 to 2018
