Montana Rail Link's Mullan Pass in Winter Snow (4K) | MRL & BNSF Trains | March 2023 | DJI Drones 

This line never ceases to amaze, no matter how many times I visit it.

I don’t know what makes filming MRL so fascinating but I never get tired of watching them in action. Outstanding footage!

Awesome video. Thanks Dan.

that's neat the first MRL train 4317 was one of those ex-BHP iron ore SD70ACes with the two horns.

MRL in action, I guess one day this will become the only memories of this.

This was an awesome video Dan and i'm glad that you are back and congrats on your new drone!

super train video

Beautiful !!

Oh, so beautiful. I used to work in Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park, but only in the summers. Never visited Montana in the winters, though I remember seeing snow in both parks during those summer seasons. I did not always have access to a car, but when I did, I could do some railfanning. The MRL became one of my four favorite railroads, along with the BN before the merger with the SF, the GN, and the Milwaukee. When I worked in Yellowstone, I went to Livingston and Bozeman a lot. At Glacier, it was former GN, of course. I never visited Mullan Pass, but I did take one trip to Helena from East Glacier. So, I did see some MRL on that short trip. I like Missoula, too, especially since that's the headquarters of the MRL. I love the contrast of the blue locomotives to the white snow. The orange locomotives against the white snow are beautiful, too.

wow...such an amazing footage friend...wonderful vdo...big like and greetings from India

WOW THE VIEWS YOU GET FROM YOUR DRONE ! O @ 1:25 there’s Railfan Dan at the drone controls .

Wow Dan! What a fantastic video! You captured literally the last operational days of MRL😢. Absolutely love your work. Like I have said before it’s so good we just watch over and over again. Can’t tell you how much we appreciate what you do. If it wasn’t for a sick family member we would have built a trip to Helena ourselves to watch the Boys of MRL do their thing . Thank you so much 🙂

Just wonderful Dan. Captured it all. Perfect.

The drone footage, the ground footage, and the beautiful scenery make for a wonderful video, Dan! Your patience and time in editing the final video is very apparent as we view the video. I thought that the sounds of the four mid-train helpers on that BNSF oil starting out after sitting in the siding was spectacular. I do not think that I have ever heard the voices of four engines sounding like that before. Thank you for taking the time to go to Montana in March 2023 to capture the trains in this video and for the previous videos that you have uploaded from your March 2023 trip along the Montana Rail Link before it ceased to exist as an independent railroad!

AWESOME video once again Dan. Loved the scenery, The EMDs, Catches and a serenity feeling once again. Have a wonderful rest of your Saturday.(Steve)

This is one of your best movies ever, amazing. You know I love the MRL, so this is an instant classic. The winter weather is pretty cool, literally and the snow fall is very nice too. The landscape is gorgeous everywhere, especially when everything is covered with snow. The BNSF pumpkins are tidy and they are working hard with these long and heavy trains. Sensational aerial footage again Dan, you should be proud of these wonderful pictures.

Great footage man!

Thank you, we always wondered about a lot of these Routes to & thru HELENA: we live , directly North of MT HELENA , northside of The two MRL TRACKS into HELENA(* thank Goodness no Horn Blowing in HELENA City, though some of Engines do rarely Toot)….& seven years DRIVING MT12 , via MCDONALD PASS, Elliston, thru Garrison,, to Missoula…..Anyways,great photography & Work… a beautiful overview & area… Oddly fascinating to see MULLAN, Austin, roads thru & to Missoula, etc.

Another great production! It was great to see those BNSF loaded oil cans with with the mid-train helpers. When I was driving crews in North Dakota, I’d catch a Fryburg or Eland trip occasionally. The the westbound loads always were made up with two, back-to-back buffer cars in the middle. (No power). It was so the MRL didn’t have to scrounge up or switch buffer cars when they added the manned helpers in Livingston or Helena. There’s all kind of speculation on how BNSF will operate the MRL Sub. One guess is that they’ll run the westbound loads from Laurel up through Great Falls to the Hiline. BNSF isn’t totally against manned helpers as they use them now out of Essex, MT, but nothing like the scale of MRL ops.

Masterfully accomplished, Dan. Bravo!🍷 🚂Lawrence

Absolutely stunning! 😊

Magnificent………..as a photographer we would only shoot in bright sun , no shadows, no poles…….. but you make the grayest of days ,beautiful……..I thank you. I don’t live near active tracks anymore(Alturas) maybe 1 train a week is a lot. Bruce

Hello Dan it is goood to see you back again, iv missed your superb videos, do the crews of the helpers actually control them while in the train or are they MU ed to the lead loco, thanks again Dan for braving the weather and bringing us another beautiful video keep them coming

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I love it! Will the BNSF continue the use of manned helpers?

Are those helpers somewhere in the 4-5000 hp range?

great flying - how do you avoid obstacles when flying backward? What is the name of the music at 14:30? Thanks!

дурацкая музыка!!

Those trains making the steep grades are impressive, just like your cinematography skills. The brute power force combined with the serenity of the winter landscape. "Lions in the winter" as it were. Koodo's, Thank you, for this wonderful orchestration. Favorite parts: 14:35 thru 19:35. And again at Skyline 25:20 thru 27:13. Anyone? What's the purpose of the mid-train "buffer" cars? To know where to cut the helpers in? Or some safety factors? Dan, as always, take care. 😊👣👣👣T-🛤's. P.S. Buffer cars are considered non-revenue cars when moved within a unit or sweep train of ethanol. Mileage Allowance payment will not apply. Buffer cars are to be placed between the locomotive engine and ethanol cars as required by Federal Regulations. This applies to both loaded and empty last contained cars.