FL9

Since the BNSF 5143 West was meeting the BNSF 7673 East at Bison, we had plenty of time to drive on to Two Medicine Bridge and set up for the famous barn shot with the eastbound in good light.  I used the extra time to first zoom in on a shot looking towards Dancing Lady Mountain.

It is hard for a first timer to be sure of all these mountian names even with a map, so feel free to correct me if I get it wrong.  This shot is looking more westerly back towards the continental divide and Skeleton Mountain.

In a few minutes I heard the rumble of the approaching train, and set up for this vertical shot first.

I then quickly rotated back to the horizontal before he vanished behind the fir trees on the right.

One more shot was available after he came out from behind the trees climbing up from the bridge with Spot and Mad Wolf Mountains in the background.

Nothing else was close according to the radio, so we headed back west towards Essex.  Along Highway 2 just west of East Glacier was this artistic monument to the Blackfeet Indian Tribe made out of old auto parts and other scrap metal.  Judy and I both thought it was very well crafted.

Next we stopped at the tall stone spire that represents the Teddy Roosevelt memorial next to the rest area off of Highway 2 at the continental divide.  Next to the spire was a smaller statue and plaque dedicated to John F. Stevens, the civil engineer who brought it all together for James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railroad.

Here is a closeup of the plaque.  I should have moved to shoot more directly down onto it, but hey, just click on it and treat it as a vison test.

Next to it was this additional plaque explaining more of the history of the pass itself.

We piled back into our rental Chevy Trailblazer and headed on west down the hill to let our whims determine our next stop.