Mullan Tunnel

Helena Yard0.0

Joslyn Street2.3

Control Point Tobin4.9

Birdseye Road6.1

Austin Road9.5

Austin Road12.3

Austin Road12.5

Control Point Austin12.9

Austin Road13.8

Austin Road14.4

Skyline Trestle19.1

Skyline Trestle Overlook19.2

Forest Service Road19.5

Mullan Tunnel20.4

Control Point Blossburg20.5

Blossburg Road21.5

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iceclimber

BNSF Third Subdivision, Milepost 20.4

Drone shot of the head end of a westbound grain exiting the tunnel

Drone shot of the helpers exiting the tunnel

Drone shot of the black fog of Blossburg

The black fog of Blossburg from the cliff side

A westbound exiting the tunnel from the cliff side

This is a location that I wasn't sure whether or not to add. There aren't any no trespassing signs but you definitely have to walk through railroad property to get the coolest shots. For those, you'll want to walk along the north side of the cliff until you find a spot you like (Example: 46.63351780, -112.31609726)- Be careful as there's random pieces of metal in the grass and not much room to walk. This gets you a great view of the tunnel from above where you're plenty far away from the tracks. This tunnel is incredibly unique, as the head end locomotives of heavy westbound trains go through the tunnel they suck most of the air out of it. When the helpers come through minutes later, they become starved of oxygen and start belching out black smoke that usually pours out of the tunnel after they exit. This problem was so bad that they had to blast open 1500 feet of the tunnel for more airflow, and it still happens to this day. This tunnel is also the reason that the Mullan Pass helper sets are so dirty. One last thing- the mosquitos were absolutely awful in late June- bring bug spray.

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