I want to say we've had about three movements off the Helena-Great Falls line this week
of intermodals. I suspect they went west but don't know for sure. (Hi Bruce).

HELENA — Railroad workers on Tuesday began moving some of the long-idled railcars between Great Falls and Helena. According to BNSF Railway officials, the company is putting about 1,100 railcars back to work.

Some of the cars have been sitting on the rail line for up to three years because of the global economic downturn. The company has seen increased demand for moving freight and is in the process of moving 11 or 12 miles of the idle cars, BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas said. About 100 rail cars can be stored on a mile of track, though Melonas noted that the amount
of cars per mile depends on the type of car.

The news was welcomed by Missouri River enthusiasts, many of whom considered the cars an eyesore."They're all graffitied-up and ugly," Great Falls fishing guide Kris Keller said Tuesday in Craig, after spending the day on the river. "You bring a client from New York in and instead of just seeing the beautiful willows and trees, they see these ugly railcars."
Great Falls angler Mark Seal also was happy to hear that some of the parked railcars will soon be on the move.

"I live southwest of Great Falls and we can look out our window and see the cars all the way down to Ulm," Seal said. There are about 32 miles of railcars being stored between Helena and Great Falls, including cars used to haul shipping containers and those used to transport timber. One-third of the cars are stored north of Cascade, and the remaining cars are in Wolf Creek Canyon.

Melonas said that in the next two to three weeks, half of the cars parked in Wolf Creek Canyon will be removed and put to use. Rep. Anders Blewett, D-Great Falls, introduced a bill in the last legislative session to publicly censure BNSF for using the stretch of track as a
"dumping ground" for the company's idle cars. The bill was killed in committee.
"We hope to see those railcars hauling freight instead of cluttering the canyon with railcars," Blewett said. "Hopefully BNSF avoids dumping its railcars in the Missouri River corridor the next time the economy tanks."

Blewett welcomed the news that some cars will be moved, but said he doesn't plan to ease up on BNSF until all of the cars are off the unused track.
"The residents of central Montana are eager to reclaim the Missouri River corridor," Blewett said. "The dumping of these cars hurts tourism, reduces
property values and compromises a spectacular landscape."
Texas-based BNSF stores about 10 percent of its idle cars in Montana. At the peak in April, about 87 miles of Montana track were covered in idle railcars.
As recently as January, BNSF was storing 28,247 of its North American fleet of about 100,000 cars in Montana.
The cars are stored between Helena and Great Falls, between Big Sandy and Havre, and near Moore and Circle. The Associated Press contributed to this report. END