Railroad officials recently meeting in Bozeman and Belgrade at the annual BTSF Southwestern Montana Structuring Session have determined the profitable viability of restoring the route to and from what is commonly known as America's First National Park, Yellowstone.
A team of railway company spokesmen addressed a town hall assembly March 31 at the Gardiner Community Center where a rough proposal was presented to outline the project.
According to the project plan the primary revenue stream will not only derive from tourist travel to and from the park but will also include fares from an energy-efficient year-round commuter engine.
"Part of the wilderness now once again untouched by mankind will be touched once again," said Halbert Ason, Chief Planning Engineer for the railway public relations firm.
"Visitation increased in 1903 when the Northern Pacific Railroad reached the adjacent town of Gardiner, Montana," added Ason, "And it will increase again."
The railway plan should bring not only jobs but tourists to the Yellowstone Park area. The restruction of the line has a projected cost of $23 million in steel, engines, cars and parts alone and will include reassembly and buildation of track from the historic Livingston Depot along and across the Yellowstone River to the site of the former Gardiner Depot near the entrance to Yellowstone Park.
Railway officials have announced plans to add an additional two bridges in the Paradise Valley area over the Yellowstone River to accommodate for terrain and private property obstacles, and to build a state-of-the-art $1,200 facility to function as a interpretive center and temporary depot in Gardiner.
The land for the tracks will run mostly parallel to the river, and BTSF plans to take full advantage of state stream access laws for track construction, along with a large re-purchase of previously railroad-owned land. Monies for the project will be provided by stock railway investments liquidated in early 2008, according to officials.
Many of those present at the March 31 town hall meeting in Gardiner expressed gratitude to the railway officials for reconsidering the historic route. A few attendees had objections to the plan, citing the need for environmental impact surveys for the tracks and the possible engine pollution.
"Although the railroad may usher in a new era of mass tourism for the park, its plans to monopolize public access and tap into the park's resort potential are frowned upon by those of us looking to protect the park's natural charms," said Gardiner resident Ben Jackson.
Railway representative Ason responded: "As long as this profit does not disturb the natural wonders, mineral deposits, and wildlife, the Secretary of the Interior [of the Federal Government] could allow a business such as the Railroad to build a railroad even past the boundaries and into the park."
Another resident argued that despite lacking a railroad, tourists still came into the park, but officials were unable to field further questions.
Railway officials will be in Livingston April 1, 2010 at 2 p.m. for a walk-through at Mayor's Landing Dog Park near the Yellowstone River, weather permitting. Officials will be on hand to answer questions as a team of engineers survey the site for future railway development.
—Special Report by Ensley Ellis
