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 by Lynn Ferrin Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 "If You're Going..." |
 The stark openness of the Eastern Sierra. 
These days the
track is used by
the Montana Rail
Link, a busy freight
line hauling northwestern
coal, oil, lumber,
minerals, grain,
and "piggybacks"
down to the junction
near Billings.
In midsummer,
though, there's
a tourist
excursion
train, the Montana
Daylight, running
the old NPRR
rails. It's a
cushy two-day
ride, 455 miles
between Sandpoint,
Idaho, and
Livingston,
Montana, with an
overnight stay
in a hotel in
Missoula. Depending
on the price
they pay, passengers
ride in dome cars
or regular coaches.
For a much higher
price, they can
travel in luxury
lounge/bedroom cars.
Most of the
rolling stock,
nicely refurbished,
was built in the
l940s and '50s.
For eastbound
passengers, the
trip begins
with an early-morning
bus ride from
Spokane, Washington,
to a railroad siding
in Sandpoint, Idaho,
known to rail
fans as "The Funnel"
because of the
multitude of freight
trains rolling
through here. While
we're enjoying a
continental breakfast,
the train moves
out and skirts
the shores of Lake
Pend Oreille, one
of the nation's
deepest (1,152
feet). Outside
the windows are
pine trees,
yellow wildflowers,
and a flourish of
American flags
rippling from
trailer homes.
The train crosses
the lake on the
Pack River Causeway
and soon we are
following the Clark
Fork River upstream.
Near the Montana
border the Cabinet
Gorge Dam and others
still the river
into a series of
slender lakes for
40 miles or so. At
Paradise, the
Flathead River
joins the Clark Fork.
As the train
crawls up a gorge
where the green
river slices and
foams through
the rock, we're
in the dining
car, savoring a
good lunch of gumbo
soup, hearty chicken
salad, and gooey
apple-caramel pie.
When we're in the
domes, or in the
recliners below,
attendants are
always around,
bringing drinks
and pillows.
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