Trains

The trains in Libby, Montana last night kept a few in our group up last night.  I don't mind them much, having grown up right next to the New Hope and Ivyland railroad in Pennsylvania.  Montana seems to be a major thoroughfare for the rail industry though and the trains seem to rolling day and night.  We actually saw a passenger train a couple of days ago just north of Sandpoint, Idaho.  The last car had a full window looking out the back for quite a spectacular view.

Many of the scenic views along our route are framed by rails, like this one along the Kootenai River.

I really wanted to get an action shot of a BNSF train today, and we had several opportunities along the Kootenai River upstream of Libby, but when the rails were right by the road, there were no trains and when the trains went by, we couldn't see them because of trees between the road and the tracks.  But just as we turned to head up to Libby dam a train came under the bridge and then stopped.   The view at it was looking into the sun, so not very nice, but we suspected that another train was coming in the other direction.  Sure enough, Paul C using the facilities brought the opposing train into view and I got a great shot. 

The first train then started up and 115 cars went by before things quieted down.  Lastly, as bikers we see the benefits of rail transportation long gone as so many of the rail right-of-ways have been converted to foot/cycle paths.  Here's the old rail bridge south of Clark Fork, ID that's been converted into a foot/bicycle crossing.