We crossed the overpass that carries US-12 over the Lewistown branch right of way; I took a shot both north …
And south.
Further north (MP = 810.5; 08:07) I stopped and took shots to the South...
And to the North.
Still further north one can appreciate the vastness of this country! (MP = 813.8; 08:12)
At MP = 814.5; 08:15 we find the remains of an old pile trestle as the RoW moves further west of this county road.
Seeing this one could dream of Milwaukee Road electrification returning.
We then drove straight back to Harlowton to visit the hopefully now open museum. On the way through town I made the obligatory photo stop at E57B:
With additional shots of the signals within the enclosure before moving on down main street to the Upper Musselshell Museum.
In the museum I found this display regarding Barber:
Having exhausted the resources of the museum we moved further down main to the old depot and shops area.
I feel a few words are in order about Harlowton. As a preamble to that I must recall the answer given me by the lady at the museum in Roundup to my question about the seeming absence of many of the smaller pile deck bridges we had noticed in our drive from Miles City to Harlowton. She said “the railroad just rolled up everything and sold it. I most definitely got a sense of resentment toward the Milwaukee Road when I was in Harlowton.
Our hostess at the Upper Musselshell Museum told us that the town suffered greatly in the immediate years after the railroad left. Mr. Robert McNary of the Harlowton City/County Preservation Committee, who telephoned me after I had inquired about who or what body was running the depot/shops historical areas, told me that getting money for various projects was not the problem. The problem was getting anyone to actually participate in work on any of the structures. He even asked if I were contemplating moving from Hawaii to Harlowton!
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