Books

Dusting Off the Old Ones

The Big Horn Tunnel

There is a point of interest on the Northern Pacific railroad between Miles City and Billings that perhaps few of the younger generation have observed, for it has not been noticeable from the train until the Vista Dome cars became a part of the passenger train equipment. Prior to the days of the automobile and after the building of the Northern Pacific, practically all of the travel between Miles City and Billings was over that railroad. We wonder how many of our readers who traveled the trains in those days remember the Big Horn tunnel, which was located about a mile or three quarters east of the depot at Custer. This tunnel was built in the year 1882 by H. Clark & Company, a contractor in this community at that time. Only timbers were used in the original construction, and the concrete lining was not installed by the railway company forces until 1899. The tunnel was 1006 ft. long, and it is reported that it took a passenger train from 12 to 15 seconds to pass through it. The railroad grade was changed in 1951, and the tunnel was abandoned in 1952, and the roadbed now goes around the end of the hill instead of through the tunnel The next time you go to Billings by train, be sure to ride the Vista Dome, and when you arrive just this side of Custer, take a look toward the south and watch for the old tunnel opening over which appears the sign "Big Horn Tunnel."