Bozeman Depot is a former train station in

Bozeman, Montana Bozeman is a city and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. Located in southwest Montana, the 2020 census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it the fourth-largest city in Montana. It is the principal city of th ...

, opened in 1883 by the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

. The current brick station house was built in 1892 and expanded in 1924.

Passenger rail Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

service to Bozeman ended in 1979 when budget cuts forced Amtrak to discontinue the '' North Coast Hiawatha''. Since then, various proposals have been raised for restoration of train service or adaptive reuse of the depot building. The depot was also the northern terminus of the city's electric streetcar system, the Bozeman Street Railway, which existed from 1892 to 1921.

History

The first railroad depot in Bozeman opened in 1883 when the

transcontinental Transcontinental may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Transcontinental", a song by the band Pedro the Lion from the album ''Achilles Heel'' * TC Transcontinental, a publishing, media and marketing company based in Canada, a subsidiary o ...

main line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

of the

reached the city. In 1891 a cinder from a passing

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

ignited the wood depot building, causing severe fire damage. The city decided to rebuild at a grander scale since Bozeman was then competing to become the state capital of Montana. Completed in 1892, the new depot featured brick construction and Romanesque elements such as a large central

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

. On July 27, 1892, the Bozeman Street Railway began operating

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

-powered trolleys on a route from Bozeman Depot to the corner of Main Street and Grand Avenue. Two extensions brought the system to in length by 1901, connecting to

Montana State College Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 field ...

at Montana Hall. Amid growing competition from automobiles, the system closed on December 15, 1921, when a snowstorm damaged the last trolley car. In 1900 Northern Pacific inaugurated the '' North Coast Limited'', an express train between Chicago and both Seattle and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

that stopped at Bozeman Depot. The ''Alaskan'' ran over the same route but on a slower schedule, making more stops. In 1952 the ''Alaskan'' was replaced by the '' Mainstreeter''. A major expansion and renovation of the depot occurred in 1923–1924, when a wing was added to the southeastern side in order to accommodate increased passenger traffic. Taking

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

influences, the central turret was also removed and the entire façade was clad in red brick. In 1970 the Northern Pacific merged with the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

, the Great Northern Railway, and the

Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S) was a railroad in the northwest United States. Incorporated in 1905, it was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank o ...

, forming the facility's new owner, the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a Mergers and acquisitions, merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the e ...

. Amtrak took over most inter-city passenger rail in the United States on May 1, 1971, including the Burlington Northern routes. The ''North Coast Limited'' and ''Mainstreeter'' were discontinued. Bozeman was left with no train service until pressure led by Senator Mike Mansfield resulted in Amtrak launching the '' North Coast Hiawatha'' in June.

End of passenger service

In October 1979 Amtrak discontinued the ''North Coast Hiawatha'' due to budget cuts, severing Bozeman and all of southern Montana from the national rail network. This left the '' Empire Builder'' as the only passenger rail service in the state, running on the former main line of the Great Northern Railway. Since then, Bozeman Depot has been closed to the public and used primarily for storage. In 1987

Montana Rail Link Montana Rail Link is a privately held Class II railroad in the United States. It operates on trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway and leased from its successor BNSF. MRL is a unit of The Washington Companies and is he ...

leased the line and adjacent facilities, including Bozeman Depot, from Burlington Northern. In 1996 the Burlington Northern Railroad was merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

. In 2022 Montana Rail Link agreed to end its lease with BNSF, pending regulatory approval. This would make BNSF the direct owner of the depot building. In summer 1991 the trackside exterior of the depot was a

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wil ...

for ''A River Runs Through It'', standing in for Missoula Depot. The film premiered in Bozeman.

Proposed future

Bozeman_Depot,_4_May_2022_-_northeast_face

Many proposals have been made over the years for reuse of the depot, including as a microbrewery, restaurant, bar, library, community center, office, or martial arts studio. In 2013 stakeholders completed a structural analysis of the building as a first-step toward a potential renovation. In 2000 a pub, Montana Ale Works, opened in the old Northern Pacific freight depot nearby, but the passenger depot remains dormant. In 2020 a group of Montana counties formed the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority with the goal of restoring service in southern Montana through Bozeman. In 2021 the authority played a role in securing language in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requiring

USDOT The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

to study restoration of the ''North Coast Hiawatha''. The study must be completed by 2023.

References

External links

Bozeman, Montana – TrainWeb
{{Amtrak Montana stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1883 Railway stations closed in 1979 Former Northern Pacific Railway stations Former Amtrak stations in Montana Buildings and structures in Bozeman, Montana 1883 establishments in Montana Territory 1892 establishments in Montana Tram stops Prairie School architecture in Montana