The remote and forgotten Pipestone Tunnel of the Milwaukee Railroad, in Montana

In 1847, at a time when the United States was making enormous efforts to conquer the Wild West, a new railroad was created.

The impressive ruins of the Paranapiacaba funicular, in the southeast of São Paulo
Johnson Canyon, a dangerous railroad line abandoned in 1959 in Arizona

At the time of its founding, the company was called the Milwaukee and Waukesha Railroad, as its purpose was to link the cities of Milwaukee and Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. After four years of work, the first passenger train ran on this line in 1851, which, after successive extensions, ended up receiving the name Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P RR), although it was popularly known as the Milwaukee Road.

Between 1906 and 1909, the Milwaukee Road built its line to the Pacific Northwest coast, bound for Washington State. It was a complicated line, as it was 3,680 kilometers long and crossed several mountainous areas. One of these areas was located in the heart of the state of Montana. In 1908, the Pipestone Tunnel was built there, the 11th tunnel on the route, which owes its name to the fact that it is located in Pipestone Pass in Butte. This tunnel was 697 meters long and was 1,935 meters above sea level. This line was electrified in 1915.

The Milwaukee Road fell victim to the 1973 oil crisis. The company made a decision that turned out to be very ill-advised: that same year it decided to de-electrify the line and dedicate it to diesel locomotives, in order to obtain profits from the sale of the catenaries. However, the oil crisis made the operation with electric locomotives cheaper than with diesel ones. At the end of 1977, the company declared the first of three bankruptcies and decided to abandon its Pacific Northwest line. The Pipestone Tunnel fell into disuse in 1980. Finally, in 1986, the Milwaukee Road came to an end.

In December, Mountain West Productions posted an interesting video exploring the now trackless and fenced-off Pipestone Tunnel, a splendid abandoned tunnel in a remote location in the middle of the mountains, as if the world had forgotten about it:

You can see some screenshots from this video here. We start with the eastern portal of the tunnel, partially buried by snow and landslides.

The interior of the tunnel, seen from the eastern portal. It is curious that there are so many gratifis in such a remote place and a fenced tunnel.

One of the shelters built inside the tunnel. Being quite long and narrow, these shelters served as shelters for those inside if a train arrived, so as not to be run over.

The western portal of the tunnel. At the top is the following inscription: "Pipestone Pass. Tunnel 11".