Northern Pacific's Mullan Pass, on the 'Montana Short Line'.

In 1881 the Northern Pacific Railroad contracted with Muir Bros. to bore a 3,850-foot tunnel through the Rocky Mountains of Montana. Beginning late that year, the contractors struggled to complete the project in time for the Last Spike Ceremony scheduled for September of 1883. When the enormity of the job and a partial collapse of the tunnel threatened that date, a temporary overhead line was constructed and utilized until November 1883.

This book examines route selection, construction, and early operations over'and through'the continental divide. More than 100 photographs, maps and diagrams, timetables, track profile and accounts from newspapers, and trade journals document that portion of the NP main line from Helena to Garrison, Montana.

Read about territorial politics, construction hardships, inaugural runs, fire and rockfall in the tunnel, and runaway trains as well as those upgrades which made it possible for Burlington Northern and now Montana Rail Link to operate there today.

Pictorial Histories Publishing, soft cover, 92 pages, 11 x 8.5 x .25 in., over 100 photographs, maps and diagrams, fully indexed.