The Last Transcontinental Railroad

“It was the finest railroad in America.”

Those were the words of many former employees of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific (Milwaukee Road). This trail follows the route of that glorious railroad. The rails are gone now, but many reminders of the Milwaukee remain.

This rail line, built to the Pacific Ocean between 1907 and 1909, operated until March, 1980. You are standing near milepost “1763”, meaning this former siding is 1,763 rail miles west of Chicago, Illinois.

This section of the old railroad, preserved as a trail, is a testament to the adventurous people who built and operated the railroad over the Bitterroot Mountains for seventy-one years.