(The following editorial appeared on the Independent Record website on April 28, 2010.)
HELENA, Mont. — Drive between Helena and Great Falls in coming weeks and you might have the nagging feeling that something is missing.
Maybe it’s the colorful wildflowers that often blanket the hillsides at this time year. The flowers are the result of spring rain that to date has been largely elusive.
In reality, what is likely missing are some of the big yellow railcars that sprouted by the thousands along the Missouri River and elsewhere in Montana in recent years. In case you missed the news, BNSF Railway has announced it will soon begin moving some of the cars, which have lined the trout-and-scenery rich river for several years. Why BNSF picked Montana for storing the unneeded cars isn’t exactly clear. But the railroad does own mile-upon-mile of unused track here where cars can easily be stashed and retrieved without impeding day-to-day operations.
Near-term plans call for the railroad to put about 1,100 of the cars back in service, hauling containers, timber and other goods. That’s wonderful news, from all angles.
While the cars are useful components in moving essential goods across great distance, there is little debate that, sitting idle along one of Montana’s most scenic corridors, they are an eyesore.
Is the move a reflection of some sort of corporate change of heart or shift in strategy? Have the complaints about the miles of unused cars finally found the ear of BNSF officialdom? Not exactly. BNSF says it is seeing increased demand for moving freight, creating the need to put more of the cars back in service.
Getting 1,100 cars rolling and hauling again will be a great start. The railroad says there are roughly 100 cars per mile, so this initial movement could free up more than 10 miles of track. The railroad says the cars in Wolf Creek Canyon should be among the first to go.
Beyond the cars in the canyon north of Helena, there is another long stretch of hulking yellow metal on tracks stretching north from Cascade to Great Falls. There are idled cars north of Great Falls between Big Sandy and Havre. More cars sit near the central and eastern Montana communities of Moore and Circle. Remarkably, at the zenith of this mothballing plan, about 87 miles of rail line in our state was blanketed with unused railcars.
There is still a long, steep grade ahead. As we all know, the economy, locally and nationally, has lots of room for improvement. But here’s hoping for plenty of rain that yields wildflowers and that this move by BNSF represents a light at the end of a long recessionary tunnel.