Milwaukee Road Historic District
The Montana Railroad, nicknamed the “Jawbone” for its dealmaking President Richard Harlow, reached the Musselshell River valley town of Merino in 1900. The Jawbone connected central Montana agricultural producers with the Northern Pacific line at Lombard, transforming sleepy Merino into the railway community of Harlowton. Harlow sold the Jawbone to the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific (the Milwaukee Road) in 1910 to settle a debt to “Empire Builder" James J. Hill. Milwaukee Road management recognized the opportunity to promote homesteading in central Montana between the Great Northern and Northern Pacific lines. Its engineers initiated improvements to the Jawbone’s precarious infrastructure and, in 1915, selected Harlowton as a division point, where its electrified line transitioned to steam, and later diesel power. The electrified line stretched 430 miles from Avery, Idaho, to Harlowton, making it the longest electrified stretch of railroad in the nation at the time. Cheap hydroelectric power and the train’s ability to generate electricity during its descent on the line’s mountain passes made electrification a success. Before purchasing the Jawbone, the Milwaukee Road leased its track and built the Harlowton station complex. Japanese and Bulgarian workmen started construction in 1907. The depot, roundhouse, freight house, and shops, completed in 1908, strictly adhered to the Milwaukee Road’s utilitarian Class A depot design, which reflected its desire for economy and efficiency. The Milwaukee Road closed its Pacific extension in 1980, abandoning the Harlowton station property. This quintessential Great Plains railroad station stands as testament to the marvel of intermountain electric rail service in the West.
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