Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Jefferson Valley relic ...

Those of you who travel Interstate 90 across southwestern Montana might have seen this vintage farm tractor before ... it sits on a hilltop overlooking the freeway a few miles east of Whitehall.

(I'm dating myself here, but this was a stretch of freeway once known as the site of the infamous "Whitehall frost heaves" ... though I doubt any of you kids remember that. :-)

5 comments:

  1. No I don't remember that name but then I don't know many of the names of most Interstates just like I am sure you won't know the real names of some of the highways here.

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  2. Nah, it wasn't an official name, at all ... it was just a stretch of highway that had the biggest and most ridiculous frost heaves you've ever seen! Made it all kinds of fun to drive over. :)

    They rebuilt the whole highway and fixed it about 20 years ago or so ... but for a long time it was a prime example of bad Highway Department design and contract supervision. Not that Montana has any lack of those ...

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  3. Hey Mark, would you be in for some well intentioned tresspassing sometime this summer? We'd like to go up to the Eagle's Nest tunnel, on the Milwaukee Road.... :)

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  4. Mark, you just need to call on the phone Frank and Meg Anderson co-owners of the CA Ranch. They're listed in either Manhattan or Belgrade/Bozeman phone book. And depending on their mood they may or may not allow you to drive up to Eagle's nest tunnel. Just depends on the day. ??? And don't mention my name please. I'm on good terms with them and would like to keep it that way and wouldn't want them to think I was solicitating tour-ee-sta-doors to there place, And maybe you have your own connections. ???? And watch out for snakes !!!!

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  5. Thanks, Jeff. I've actually been thinking about trying to contact the CA Ranch people for a couple years, now ... I'd really like to take some decent photos of the tunnel and the bridge. (If I can do it, you can be sure I'll post a pic or two here!)

    That canyon is gorgeous the whole way through. I've been to as many parts of it as I can get to publicly -- the old town of Sixteen, Maudlow, Deer Park, Lombard -- as well as a couple of other spots. It's really a tragedy that it's all closed off to the public, though I can understand the landowners' perspectives in the situation, too ...

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