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Montana's Other GN Structures

A list of known surviving miscellaneous Great Northern structures in Montana.

Essex: Izaak Walton Inn

Location:            Izaak Walton Inn

                              Essex, MT

Built:                    1939

Picture taken:    July 30th, 2000

Current use:      Amtrak Flag Stop

                              Hotel, restaurant, bar

Remarks:            The Izaak Walton Inn is a rail fan's paradise. The hotel

                               is not in use anymore as a crew hotel but now caters

                               to everybody. The atmosphere breaths Great Northern

                               allover. The hotel is literally filled with (mostly) GN

                               memorabilia and there is more in the garden

                               surrounding the hotel. The Izaak Walton Inn has a

                               restaurant and bar that's open also for non guests.

                               An extensive gift shop tops it all off.

                               Rooms are available 'trackside' for us rail fans and

                               'park side' for those seeking quiet during the night.

                               All rooms are decorated GN style and there are even

                               four cabooses available as cottages on the hillside 

                               across the BNSF tracks.

Great Falls: Express Building

Location:            Downtown Great Falls, MT

                              Next to the old GN depot.

Picture taken:    August 1st, 2000

Current use:      

Remarks:           This building located to the right of the Great Falls

                             depot was the Division Office Building.  On the GN this

                             was the Butte Division.  On the ground floor, closest to

                             the depot (south end), was the Railway Express facility.

                             Upstairs over this was the superintendent, chief clerk,

                             master mechanic, etc.  At the other end of the upstairs

                             was the traffic department.  Trainmaster offices were

                             about in the middle.  Downstairs, opposite the REA,

                             originally, was the commissary department (back when

                             the trains in and out of Great Falls had dining cars).

                             There was even a walk-in cooler or freezer in the back.

                             Also the Special Agents had their offices in the breeze-

                             way.  Acme Fast Freight, a freight consolidator/ 

                             forwarder had their office in this north end, on the east

                             (street side). On the platform side, there was a rail spur

                             that ran right up along side the building, as far as the

                             breezeway--it served a couple of warehouses just north

                             of the office building, and (I'm supposing) way back

                             when, allowed inbound commissary loads to be spotted

                             for unloading into the storage area--there was a double

                             door at platform level there. (Thanks to Chuck Halter of 

                             Ft. Worth for providing this information)

John F. Stevens Monument

Location:            Memorial Square Rest Stop

                              of US highway 2 on Marias Pass, MT

Erected:              1925

Picture taken:    July 31st, 2000

Remarks:            The John Frank Stevens Memorial Statue was

                              originally located close to the original site of the

                              Summit Depot that used to sit near the engines 

                              visible in the background. The Stevens Monument is

                              kept company by the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial

                              Monument; a 60' stone obelisk constructed in 1931 to 

                              honor his policies on forest conservation and the

                              construction of the Theodore Roosevelt International

                              Highway connecting Portland, OR and Portland, ME; 

                              today's US highway 2.

Kalispell: Speeder Shed/Tool house

Location:            Kalispel, MT

Picture taken:    July 2000 by Leo Harker

Current use:      BNSF