Gardiner station was a

railway station 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 ...

Gardiner, Montana Gardiner is a unincorporated community in Park County, Montana, United States, along the 45th parallel. As of the 2020 census, the population of the community and nearby areas was 833. Gardiner was officially founded in 1880. The area has s ...

, serving the Northern Pacific Railway. Gardiner was on the southern terminus of a branch line from Livingston and is at the northern border of

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...

. Passengers would be shuttled to/from the park via stagecoach. The station was designed by

Robert Reamer Robert Chambers Reamer (1873–1938) was an American architect, most noted for the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park. A number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places for their architecture. Reamer was ...

in the rustic style. Passenger service eventually diminished from Gardiner, and the station was torn down in 1954.

Site description

The station was designed by architect

in 1903, who also designed the

Old Faithful Inn The Old Faithful Inn is a hotel in the western United States with a view of the Old Faithful Geyser, located in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The Inn has a multi-story log lobby, flanked by long frame wings containing guest rooms. In t ...

at Yellowstone. These structures were both designed in the rustic style, and this style was set as a precedent for other national park buildings. The walls were made out of logs, with the foundation set with stone. The red and black Northern Pacific

yin-yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and ya ...

symbol was used throughout the building, including on the stations' floor and doors. The exterior of the station featured a curving platform, with the rail track on one side and space for carriages on one side. A pond was also created between the station and the

Roosevelt Arch The Roosevelt Arch is a rusticated triumphal arch at the north entrance to Yellowstone National Park in Gardiner, Montana, United States. Constructed under the supervision of the US Army at Fort Yellowstone, its cornerstone was laid down by Pre ...

History

The Yellowstone Park branch line was first completed in 1883 by the Northern Pacific Railway. The line ended at Cinnabar station, north of Gardiner. The line was marketed as the first railroad line to a national park. The line was not completed to Gardiner due to a disagreement between the railroad and the owner of a

land claim A land claim is defined as "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include aboriginal land claims, A ...

in Gardiner. The line was extended to Gardiner in June 1902. Cinnabar was abandoned and became a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

after operations shifted to Gardiner. The initial track to Gardiner was not built with turning capabilities and trains had to backtrack to Cinnabar to reverse. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

visited the town via the railroad in 1903, but the track and depot were not fully operational yet. The nearby

had its

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

placed by Roosevelt on April 24, 1903. A new turning track along with a permanent depot opened later in 1903. Throughout the majority of the station's life, one train in each direction was operated to/from Livingston, north. During the peak summer months, through Pullman sleeping car service was available from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

via the ''

North Coast Limited The ''North Coast Limited'' was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train after t ...

''. A peak of "more than 17,000" annual passengers used the branch line in 1925. With the introduction of the

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarde ...

and

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

, rail service to Gardiner declined significantly. In 1915, the Northern Pacific (plus other railroads at other gates) brought in 44,477 people compared to 7,418 by car. This greatly decreased to 26,845 rail passengers out of 194,771 total visitors in 1930. The last scheduled passenger service ran in 1948. Special

charter train An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customer ...

s operated until 1955, and the last service to Gardiner was a troop of

Girl Scout Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

s. The depot was demolished in 1954, and replaced by a joint building serving the city's water department, public library, and sheriff's department. Gardiner High School was also built on the former railroad land. A new library designed in the style of the old station was considered has been proposed under the 2015 "Gardiner Gateway Project", although the current status of the project is unknown. The track between Livingston and Gardiner was abandoned by Northern Pacific successor

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

in 1981.

References

{{reflist Former Northern Pacific Railway stations Yellowstone National Park Railway stations in the United States opened in 1903 Railway stations closed in 1954 Robert Reamer buildings Rustic architecture in Montana Transportation in Park County, Montana Demolished buildings and structures in Montana Buildings and structures demolished in 1954