The Legacy of the Railroads
“It is no exaggeration to say that the railroad of this country have infinitely more to do with the happiness and success of the people than the United States Government itself. They touch more people more intimately.” Ray Stannard Baker, McClure’s XXVI, November 1905-March 1906.
Today, railroads have lost their supremacy. Although trains still run regularly across the tracks, other forms of transportation long ago eclipsed the railroad as the favored traveling method for the average passenger. The BNSF still runs freight loads and employs over 40,000 people nation-wide. Amtrak employs over 20,000. These numbers are a far cry from the days when the Northern Pacific alone served as the economic backbone of multiple cities and communities.
Despite these changes, railroads have not left Montana entirely. Some towns, like Forsyth, persist as railroad towns, with the BNSF as a major employer. Other former railroad towns, such as Livingston, have turned their railroading past into a source of community pride and tourist revenue.
Railroads loom large in the imagination even today. Children remain as fascinated with trains and railroads as they were a hundred and fifty years ago, and that fascination often carries through into adulthood. Although the railroad is no longer a default form of either transportation or employment, it remains a vital part of the identity of Montana, and of the American west.
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