Steel Rails Over Bozeman Pass!
Nov 28, 2024
Coming soon is the Bozeman Pass: Livingston - Three Forks & Trident route featuring railroading across Montana’s “Big Sky Country,” plus Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern locomotives and equipment!
Get ready to journey to the “Big Sky Country” of Montana and climb aboard Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern locomotives to challenge rugged and historic Bozeman Pass!
From accomplished developer High Iron Simulations, the upcoming Bozeman Pass: Livingston - Three Forks & Trident route for Train Simulator Classic will deliver exceptional railroading variety as it includes complete sets of both Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern diesel locomotives and freight rolling stock. And the route will provide a captivating mix of rugged mountain railroading with tough grades to conquer plus high-plains granger territory where mile-a-minute running is the norm!
The Bozeman Pass route is set circa 1970 (the year Northern Pacific and the other “Hill Lines” merged into Burlington Northern) and extends from the major shop town of Livingston, Montana, across Bozeman Pass and west to Logan, where the route splits and continues to Trident and Three Forks, Montana. Total route miles of the Train Simulator Classic Bozeman Pass route is ~65 miles.
Located midway along Northern Pacific’s busy route from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest, the route was the First Subdivision of NP’s famed Rocky Mountain Division, and in 1970 became the Second Subdivision of Burlington Northern’s own Rocky Mountain Division. After serving as the heart of the regional railroad Montana Rail Link for nearly three decades, today the line is the busy MRL Subdivision of giant BNSF. Whatever the era, the Bozeman Pass route has been renowned for both its tough brand of railroading and its scenic grandeur.
The Bozeman Pass: Livingston - Three Forks & Trident route for Train Simulator Classic will feature:
• Five types of notable Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern Electro-Motive diesels, including the historic EMD FT (Northern Pacific), versatile GP9 (NP and Burlington Northern), prolific SW1200 switcher (NP and Burlington Northern), stylish GP30 (Burlington Northern), and powerful SD45 (NP and BN).
• Sixteen types of freight rolling stock in liveries including Burlington Northern; Northern Pacific; Great Northern; Burlington Route; Spokane, Portland & Seattle; Santa Fe; Frisco; Southern Pacific; Union Pacific; and Western Pacific.
• The rugged, scenic climb over Bozeman Pass with eastbound and westbound grades of nearly 2 percent to reach 3,000-foot-long Bozeman Tunnel at an elevation of nearly 5,600 feet above sea level.
• Livington’s sprawling yard, shops, and classic brick station. Bozeman, Logan, and other locations also feature busy yards and handsome depots and stations.
• More than 40 lineside industries and served sidings including numerous grain elevators, aggregate plants, and lumber facilities. Adjoining Milwaukee Road trackage is also extensively modeled.
• Ten authentic career scenarios, featuring BN and NP operations, delivering the challenges of operating heavy manifests, unit trains, locals, switching duties, and helper services on Bozeman Pass.
Coming soon, High Iron Simulations’ Bozeman Pass: Livingston - Three Forks & Trident route for Train Simulator Classic will bring you the opportunity to experience the dramatic railroading of two great American Class 1 rail legends – the Northern Pacific and successor Burlington Northern – as the two classic railroads tote tonnage across magnificent Bozeman Pass and through the grand “Big Sky Country” of Montana!
Coming soon, High Iron Simulations’ Bozeman Pass: Livingston - Three Forks & Trident route for Train Simulator Classic will bring you the opportunity to experience the dramatic railroading of two great American Class 1 rail legends – the Northern Pacific and successor Burlington Northern – as the two classic railroads tote tonnage across magnificent Bozeman Pass and through the grand “Big Sky Country” of Montana!
Coming soon to Train Simulator Classic, the Bozeman Pass: Livingston - Three Forks & Trident route will deliver the railroading of two great American Class 1 roads, the Northern Pacific and successor Burlington Northern. Heartbeat of the upcoming route is the yard and shop town of Livingston, Montana, where a trio of Burlington Northern EMD SD45s is departing west while a BN EMD SW1200 tends to yard duty.
Northern Pacific EMD SD45s are beginning the journey toward Bozeman Pass as they roll past Livingston’s magnificent brick station. Built in 1902, the station exists today as the Livingston Depot Center. The Bozeman Pass route will include an all-new edition of the potent EMD SD45 in Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern liveries.
Making a long-awaited debut in Trains Simulator Classic (Steam editions) is the historic Electro-Motive FT – “the diesel that did it.” Northern Pacific acquired 40 FT cab and booster locomotives in 1944-45 and NP was the last major U.S. operator of the landmark locomotive, with its final FT units not retired until the spring of 1970.
In a classic “A-B-B-A” lash-up, Northern Pacific FTs depart Livingston Yard with the ascent of Bozeman Pass awaiting ahead. The famous FT is one of five types of notable Electro-Motive diesel locomotives included with the upcoming route.
Joining the FT will be the successful EMD GP9 road-switcher, in Northern Pacific and Burlington Northern colors. A quartet of Northern Pacific “Geeps” drops down the tough 1.8 percent grade of Bozeman Pass (above), then strides into Livingston (below). The Northern Pacific Geeps were noted for their use of bells from retired steam locomotives mounted atop the short hood.
Bozeman Pass was (and is) challenging, tough railroading and a helper district in both the steam and diesel eras. Burlington Northern EMD SD45 6444 and kin are dragging tonnage up the east slope of Bozeman with the magnificent spires of the Rockies standing in the distance (above). At an elevation just below 5,600 feet above sea level, the set of SD45s has attained the summit and exits the west portal of 3,000-foot-long Bozeman Tunnel (below).
In addition to standing at the western foot of the pass, the town of Bozeman was a bustling railroad town, with a yard, a depot, numerous lineside industries, and a junction point between the NP/BN and the Milwaukee Road. In years before and after the 1970 creation of Burlington Northern, able EMD SW1200s are switching Bozeman shippers (above and below). The SW1200, along with other included diesels, features a number of customizable details.
West of Bozeman, the upcoming Bozeman Pass: Livingston - Three Forks & Trident route features high-plains granger railroading and track speeds of 60 mph-plus. The route includes an all-new Electro-Motive GP30 in Burlington Northern livery, and GP30 2200 is leading a lash-up westbound through Belgrade. Burlington Northern rostered 55 GP30s of Great Northern and Burlington Route (CB&Q) heritages.
Logan, Montana, 49 miles west of Livingston, was the junction point between Northern Pacific’s main lines on west via Helena and Butte and was home to a yard and handsome depot/lunch room. Northern Pacific FT 5409D, on the point of a westbound freight, along with B-unit sister NP 5404C were the last FTs to see service on the railroad.
West of Logan on the line toward Butte, Burlington Northern EMD GP9s are handling switching duties at Three Forks. Richly detailed, as is the tradition of developer High Iron Simulations, the upcoming route is set circa 1970 (the year Northern Pacific and the other “Hill Lines” merged into Burlington Northern) and includes ~ 65 route miles.