Montana Railroads (MT)

BNSF

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) operates various mainline and branch lines in the State of Montana. These lines are comprised of predecessor railroads operated by the Burlington Northern (BN) whose operations in Montana consisted of the merged railroads Great Northern (GN) and the Northern Pacific (NP). BNSF current operates on mostly former GN lines in northern Montana.

Subdivisions

Subdivisions are shown below with method of track authority show in (xxx).

• CTC - Centralized Traffic control. Trains may operate on signal indication in either direction
• TWC - Track Warrant Control - Trains operate on track warrants given by paper or by the dispatcher over the radio
• ABS - Automatic Block System - trains operate via signals in conjunction with CTC or TWC authority.

Multiple authority types may be used in various segments on the main line. TWC is the most common in Montana and train location can be better understood when track warrants are issued or updated by the dispatcher over the radio.

The BNSF uses a PBX system across the state known as MRAS which supplements the dispatcher radios. These radios are known by channel or colors and are listed for each subdivision that they are in use.

Main lines

These lines are considered by the BNSF as "main lines" in Montana:

• Dickinson (TWC/ABS/CTC)
• Forsyth (TWC/ABS/CTC)
• Glasgow (CTC)
• Great Falls (TWC)
• Hettinger (TWC)
• Hi Line (CTC)
• Kootenai River (CTC)
• Laurel (TWC)
• Milk River (CTC)
• Mobridge (TWC/ABS/CTC)
• Sweet Grass (TWC/CTC)

Branch Lines

• Big Sandy (TWC)
• Broadview (TWC)
• Choteau (TWC)
• Circle (TWC)
• Colstrip (TWC)
• Copper City (TWC)
• Crosby (TWC)
• Fairfield (TWC)
• Fort Benton (TWC)
• Grenora (TWC)
• Helena (TWC)
• Lewistown (TWC)
• Niobe (TWC)
• Sarpy Line (CTC/TWC)
• Scobey (TWC)
• Sidney Line (TWC)
• Valler (TWC)

MRL

Montana Rail Link operates the former BN (Northern Pacific) mainline in southern/western Montana. Much of the traffic on MRL is bridge traffic from the BNSF and are commonly operated with run through BNSF power. MRL has a major yard located in Laurel. Due to its heritage as former BN, rule books and operates closely mirrors BNSF operations.

MRL has trackage rights on the BNSF between Sandpoint Junction to Spokane.

Subdivisions

Subdivisions on MRL are numbered, and currently there is no 8th or 12th subdivision.

Subdivisions are shown below with method of track authority show in (xxx).

• CTC - Centralized Traffic control. Trains may operate on signal indication in either direction
• TWC - Track Warrant Control - Trains operate on track warrants given by paper or by the dispatcher over the radio
• ABS - Automatic Block System - trains operate via signals in conjunction with CTC or TWC authority.
• BRT - Block Register Territory - Trains are "registered" on a form or book at a specific location on when they entered and departed the track. No other train is to occupy the track until the previous train has shown they are no longer in that block.

Multiple authority types may be used in various segments on the main line. TWC is the most common in Montana and train location can be better understood when track warrants are issued or updated by the dispatcher over the radio.

The MRL typically uses AAR 15 as a road channel. PBX repeaters are also installed system wide for various use.

Main lines

These lines are considered by the MRL as "main lines" in Montana:

• 1st Subdivision (CTC/TWC)
• 2nd Subdivision (CTC)
• 3rd Subdivision (CTC/ABS)
• 4th Subdivision (CTC/ABS)
• 10th Subdivision (CTC/TWC)

These lines are considered by the MRL as "branch lines" in Montana:

• 5th Subdivision (CTC/TWC)
• 6th Subdivision (BRT)
• 7th Subdivision (BRT)
• 9th Subdivision (TWC)
• 11th Subdivision (TWC)
• 13th Subdivision (BRT)

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