MILES CITY, Mont., May 2 (1971) -- Casey Barthelmess, 80 years old, once a bronc buster and a cowpoke, shifted on his crutches outside the depot. He tried to sound uninterested in what had happened.
“I thought there might be a little excitement,” he said, “but it was pretty quiet.” His voice had betrayed him by going hoarse in mid‐sentence.
He had just watched the coming and the going of the last passenger train through Miles City. As he spoke, the train could still be heard in the distance as it sped toward the end of the line at St. Paul.

“Miles City, Mont., Mourns End of Passenger Trains”
NEW YORK TIMES
May 3, 1971
https://www.nytimes.com/1...depot.html

Thank you for posting access to this extremely well written article. I remember traveling alone on this train as a little girl; the conductor, the dusty seats, the smell of it,the noise of it. Now it seems part of the "Next stop,Willoughby" Twilight Zone segment. Nostalgia sometimes hits your emotions like a bomb. Anyway,Thanks for taking me back!

I remember riding AMTRAK to Missoula & back 2-3 times between Fall 78 & Christmas 1979 before it really closed down. That was a bummer cuz it was a great ride, with all the drinks a poor college student could afford.

I used to dream that if Democrats got back power, they might revive passenger rail for energy efficiency, economic development and equal opportunity. Sadly, once tRump started destroying everything, I figure no one with the energy for rail. Sigh.