Yellowstone Valley Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Yellowstone Valley Railroad is a 171 miles (275.2 km) shortline railroad
in northeastern Montana
, also crossing into North Dakota
. It operates two branch lines leased from the BNSF Railway
in 2005 - Snowden to Glendive and Bainville to Scobey - connected by trackage rights
over BNSF's Northern Transcon between Snowden and Bainville.
(NP) at Glendive. The Snowden-Sidney piece was completed by the Montana Eastern Railway, a GN subsidiary, in 1915, and the remainder by the NP in 1912. Effective August 15, 2005, the YSVR leased both of these lines from the BNSF Railway, successor to the GN and NP.
Shortline railroad
A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the USA and Canada...
in northeastern Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, also crossing into North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
. It operates two branch lines leased from the BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
in 2005 - Snowden to Glendive and Bainville to Scobey - connected by trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
over BNSF's Northern Transcon between Snowden and Bainville.
History
The northern segment, from Bainville to Scobey, was constructed by the Great Northern Railway (GN), opening to Plentywood in 1911 and Scobey in 1914. A further extension was built to Opheim and later abandoned. The other line was built as a pair of branch lines connecting Sidney to the GN at Snowden and the Northern Pacific RailwayNorthern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
(NP) at Glendive. The Snowden-Sidney piece was completed by the Montana Eastern Railway, a GN subsidiary, in 1915, and the remainder by the NP in 1912. Effective August 15, 2005, the YSVR leased both of these lines from the BNSF Railway, successor to the GN and NP.