(The following story by Nick Gevock appeared on the Bozeman Daily Chronicle website on December 3.)
BOZEMAN, Mont. — For over two years since the Yellowstone Historic Center in West Yellowstone opened, the staff there has been building up its collection of historic artifacts.
But although the museum is housed in the old railroad depot, it has been missing a key piece of the picture of how the early visitors to Yellowstone National Park got there — a railroad car.
“People come into the museum and say, ‘Wow, this looks like a railroad depot,'” said Paul Shea, curator of the museum. “We say ‘yeah, it is,’ and then they ask, ‘Where’s the train?'”
But now the museum finally has a train car with some historic roots parked behind the old depot. A grizzled freight car that traveled across the country in 1964 as part of the Montana Centennial Train tour was hauled across town Monday by a semi truck and parked at its newfound home.
The car has lived numerous lives, Shea said.
As part of the centennial tour, it was a traveling exhibit about the Treasure State that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Montana Territory, Shea said. It was hoped the seven-car tour would lure tourists to the state.
After traveling through the Midwest, the train ended up in New York City as Montana’s entry in the 1964 World’s Fair. Two years later, the train made the journey back to Montana and the state gave a car to West Yellowstone and six other communities, Shea said.
The West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce used the car as a visitor center for years, but eventually outgrew it and sold it to a local businessman. Since then it has changed hands, and uses, numerous times, Shea said.
“It was a video arcade at one time in the (19)70s when those were popular,” he said.
Eventually the car became The Bargain Depot clothing store, parked on the corner of Dunraven Street and Madison Avenue.
The Povah family, who owned the car, decided to donate it to the museum, said Denise Zdansky, center business director.
Dubbed “Montana Cowbell” on the original 1964 tour, when it had logos from Montana ranches, the prep work to move the car started over a week ago. The car was lifted with jacks to remove the permanent wheels and attach tires for the pull.
“A crane wouldn’t be able to do this. It’s that heavy,” Zdansky said.
The museum plans to restore the car. Shea said it will take sandblasting the outside, repainting it and then restoring the original exhibit.
It’s hoped the car will be just one of a complete string of cars made up mostly of the original passenger cars that came to West Yellowstone. The museum is seeking donations to restore Montana Cowbell and build up its collection.
“It’s in pretty good shape, considering it’s been down here since the late 1960s,” Shea said of the car. “It’s been through a lot of hard winters.”