Boardman Coal by Martin Burwash

Busy afternoon at Helena, MT.  All day work window on Mullan Pass has westbound trains piling up in the yard.

Running again, BNSF 1051 has added an MRL F-45 to its consist and heads west for the Great Divide while a westbound Boardman coal train pulls out for Helena Junction where a mid-train helper will be added.

A set of BNSF units is borrowed from a westbound grain train to serve as the rear pusher on the Boardman coaler.  Helper engineer Sam Sutton watches for the singal from his switchman to pull off the grain train.

Sam has to stand up to get a clear view of his switchman as he eases the helper set onto the rear hopper.

Heave ho!  Rounding the upper loop at Austin, MT the head-end power can be seen on the upper level while in the rear view mirror the helpers aid in the struggle of wieght vs. gravity.

Martin Burwash

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