The Montana Wyoming and Southern Railroad The Montana, Wyoming and Southern (or MW&S) was an independent privately owned short rail spur built in 1906 from the main Northern Pacific Railroad (NP) line at Bridger, Montana through Belfry and on to the mines in and around Bearcreek. The tremendous amounts of coal extracted from the Bearcreek mines all traveled over this 21 mile long spur. The MW&S was built by speculators hoping it could be immediately sold to the NP who used the high grade coal from the Bearcreek mines in their engines. However, since the MW&S's single outlet to the wider world was all through the NP terminus at Bridger, the Northern Pacific did not buy this short line but sought to control it through business interactions. The MW&S was forced to operate on its own under constant financial pressure from the NP, and even though it shipped large volumes of high grade coal from Bearcreek it was often in financial and operational difficulties. The Bearcreek mine owners were in turn completely dependent on the MW&S to move their shipments. The MW&S existed as a vacillating and weak but critical link to the continued prosperity of the community of Bearcreek.
The Montana Wyoming and Southern Railroad The Montana, Wyoming and Southern (or MW&S) was an independent privately owned short rail spur built in 1906 from the main Northern Pacific Railroad (NP) line at Bridger, Montana through Belfry and on to the mines in and around Bearcreek. The tremendous amounts of coal extracted from the Bearcreek mines all traveled over this 21 mile long spur. The MW&S was built by speculators hoping it could be immediately sold to the NP who used the high grade coal from the Bearcreek mines in their engines. However, since the MW&S's single outlet to the wider world was all through the NP terminus at Bridger, the Northern Pacific did not buy this short line but sought to control it through business interactions The MW&S was forced to operate on its own under constant financial pressure from the NP, and even though it shipped large volumes of high grade coal from Bearcreek it was often in financial and operational difficulties. The Bearcreek mine owners were in turn completely dependent on the MW&S to move their shipments. The MW&S existed as a vacillating and weak but critical link to the continued prosperity of the community of Bearcreek.