MRRT is the longest multiple day scenic rail journey in the U.S. The route is 478 miles long, operating from Sandpoint, Idaho to Livingston, Montana or reverse. The rail portion is daylight travel only, which provides each passenger with never-ending views of the spectacular scenery of Montana and Idaho. The tours are offered with three levels of service: Discovery, Big Sky, and our newest Montana Gold!

 Wherever the Montana Daylight train goes, we attract smiles and waves. Our vintage cars reflect a simpler, nostalgic era the Golden Age of Rail, the Streamliner Era, reminiscent of those great family vacations of the 1940s and ‘50s. Montana Rail Link provides the diesel locomotives and the engineers, we operate and staff the fleet of passenger cars and streamlined vista domes, mostly built by the Budd Company from 1947-1955.

  For railroad enthusiasts, these cars are authentic memorabilia of the classic Americana trains. Carefully collected from all over the country, our cars originally ran on the great old lines, such as the Great Northern’s Empire Builder, the Northern Pacific’s North Coast Limited and the Denver & Rio Grande’s Rio Grande Zepher. Watch for the art deco and art moderne detailing in these vintage cars.

was organized on July 1, 1987, and began operating 957 miles of former Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) trackage in Montana and Idaho on October 31, 1987. It is a privately held, Class II railroad. MRL links southern and western Montana with the nation's rail system and is a major corridor for rail traffic between the central and southern states and the Pacific Northwest and Canada. The general offices are located in Missoula, Montana.

Most of the MRL route was originally part of the Northern Pacific Railroad whose line, when completed in 1883, linked the Great Lakes with Puget Sound thus becoming the nation's first northern transcontinental route. On March 3, 1970 the NP along with the Great Northern: Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle merged forming the Burlington Northern Railroad. MRL now operates the portion between Jones Junction, MT (east of Huntley) and Sandpoint, ID. MRL reaches Spokane, WA, its western terminus and connection with the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe, on trackage rights from Sandpoint.

The majority of MRL's 600-mile mainline is single track with passing sidings and is controlled by computer-aided Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) from the Transportation Center in Missoula. The remainder of the mainlines are a variety of single or multiple main tracks controlled by CTC, Automatic Block Signals, Track Warrant Controls or are within Yard Limits. Most of the mainline is laid with continuous weld rail and maintained to FRA Class IV standards allowing freight train speeds up to 60 miles per hour.

Montana Rockies Rail Tours Car List
Rail Quest America (RQAX)

1. RQAX 104 Power car ex CN 9261 ex CN 15300 ex Via Rail 15300. Built 1957 by National Steel Car Co. LTD. for Canadian National Railways as a baggage car. Converted in 1968 to the first " Tempo" Generator Car. Re-powered by MRRT in 1999 with a Volvo Diesel Generator of 400Kw. capacity.

2. RQAX 1612 ex Amtrak 1453 ex USAX 89535. Built by St. Louis Car Company for the U.S. Army as a Medical Service Car in 1953. Acquired by Amtrak and converted to a Baggage/Dormitory car in 1973. Sleeps 10 crewmembers in addition to both cold and dry storage.

3. RQAX 8750 ex Amtrak 8529, ex Amtrak 8026, ex Atlanta & West Point 501. Built by Budd Co. in 1949 for pool service on Southern Railway trains. Converted to a 36 seat Buffet/Diner by Amtrak late in their Heritage Program.

4. RQAX 800269 ex Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 4729 ex Amtrak 9545. Built in 1947 by Budd for the Twin Cities Zephyr. This was one of the very first Budd built production domes and was built to 54 revenue seats. Has now been converted to a Dome lounge. Named the Silver Scene. Seating configuration: 24 dome, 25 lower lounge and 20 table (5 - 4 seat tables).

5. RQAX 9407 ex Amtrak 9477 ex Northern Pacific 550. Built by Budd in 1954 as a 46 seat revenue dome/coach, with 20 dome seats. Car was originally used on the North Coast Limited.

6. RQAX 9410 ex Amtrak 9471 ex GN 1331. Built by Budd in 1955 as a 46 seat revenue dome/coach, with 20 dome seats, for the Great Northern and used on the Empire Builder. All original Pacific Northwest Indian Paintings have also been restored to their original splendor.

7. RQAX 3109 ex Amtrak 8105 ex AT&SF 1560. Built by Budd in 1948 for the Santa Fe as a Lunch counter lounge car. Converted by Amtrak to a Buffet Lounge. Car had major mechanical, window and truck work done in 1999. Converted to a club car with gift shop in 2000.

8. RQAX 4700 ex AT&SF 2823 ex Amtrak 4817. By Budd in 1953 for the Santa Fe as a 48 seat coach and was used on such trains as the El Capitan, the San Francisco Chief and the Dallas Chief.

9. RQAX 4734 ex Amtrak 4861 ex AT&SF 2849. By Budd in 1953 for the Santa Fe as a 48 seat coach and used on such trains as the El Capitan, the San Francisco Chief and the Dallas Chief.

10. RQAX 4001 ex Amtrak 4415 ex SP2228/2367. By Budd in 1950 for the Southern Pacific as a 44-seat coach for use on the Sunset Limited. Converted by Amtrak to an ADA car.

11. RQAX 4013 ex Amtrak 4418 ex SP2231/2370. By Budd in 1950 for Southern Pacific as a 44 seat revenue car and used on the "Sunset Limited". Converted by Amtrak to an ADA car.