Page 10 - July August 1998
P. 10

 Pumpkins in Paradise... by Jane Lee
...The Isaak Walton Experience
   tographs, old railway posters and articles, etc. Each one of the 31 bed- rooms is furnished in GN style from the hand-sewn duvet cover to the shower curtain. The Dining Car Restaurant which overlooks the tracks is a fascinating place with rail- way photos and models on shelves around the room and even the menu has a railroad theme. There is a well- stocked gift shop with lots of inter- esting GN momentos and useful books as well as the usual local crafts, T-shirts, etc. There is a cosy sitting area with a lovely log fire and plenty of reading material including current and recent copies of railfanning mag- azines. You can even borrow books from the owners personal library - mostly GN of course. The Flagstop Bar in the basement often has a lively atmosphere and yet more memora- bilia. Outside you can sit on a swing on the porch and just watch life, well trains anyway, go by amidst the beau- tiful mountain scenery. Nestling in the trees on a hill overlooking the mainline and the Inn are four recent- ly restored cabooses (or should that be cabeese!). These are all tastefully furnished as self contained units with kitchen and bathroom facilities and either bunks or big double beds.
We had arrived on the Thursday but the Essexpress actually started on the Friday evening with a get together in the Signal Meeting Room. A slide show about Glacier National Park was presented by Ed Vasecka of the Great Northern Historical Society and Glacier Natural History Association (and train enthusiast). There were about 22 of us altogether not includ- ing Ed, our ‘leader’ Bill Taylor and Larry Vielleux. The others had trav- elled from all over the US (and Canada) including California, Ohio, Georgia and Wisconsin. Although we had travelled the farthest, many of them had taken longer to get there than us. Most had arrived by Amtrak on the Empire Builder. There is an
 staggered to hear that they had over 20 feet of snow but apparently this was quite normal and several feet was still in evidence when we arrived. All the train action can be viewed (all night long if you so desire) from the comfort of your own room. You need to ask for a room which faces the tracks but be prepared for a dis- turbed night, particularly if your hus- band insists on having the window open all night. This also means the room is freezing cold in the morning - depending on the temperature out- side and the efficiency of the steam filled radiators!
As luck would have it however the day we arrived there had been a derailment at Browning some 40 miles to the east and the other side of the summit. This meant a slight lack of trains whilst the track repairs were carried out but Stephen felt it was reassuring to hear sound of the helpers idling all
night outside our room. Despite the curtailment of traf- fic on the mainline due to re-routing we did see quite a lot of action and were able to get some good close up views of the new BNSF C44-9W in their distinctive ‘Pumpkin’ livery whilst they were held at Essex.
The Inn itself is a wonderland of rail- road memorabilia, mostly from the Great Northern era. Every available wall contains pho-
  We arrived in Essex, Montana on 1st May 1997 after an eventful 4 hour drive from Calgary. Eventful because of the weather we had encountered as we were leaving Calgary; a blizzard and near whiteout conditions which made driving very hazardous especially in an unfamiliar hire car.
Our base for at least the next 4 days was the Izaak Walton Inn in ‘down- town’ Essex. Well actually we found out that Essex doesn’t have a ‘down- town’ (or an ‘uptown’); the Izaak Walton is Essex. We were told that Essex has just 15 permanent resi- dents and most of these work at the Inn, which also doubles as U.S. Post Office and entertainment centre for the locals. As we stepped out of the car upon our arrival at the Inn the sound of two SD40-2’s idling could be heard close by and, after frantically climbing over piles of melting snow, anxious to catch a first glimpse, Stephen thought he had arrived in Paradise.
The Izaak Walton Inn is located right next to the BNSF mainline on Marias Pass and practically on top of the helper station. It was built in 1939 primarily for the use of railroad crews. The Inn is a real gem and if you’ve never been there and you like trains then you really should go. We first saw mention of the Izaak Walton in a Railfan and Railroad magazine article about Marias Pass. In January we rang the owners Larry and Lynda Vielleux and made arrangements to stay. Just by chance our stay coincid- ed with the 12th Annual Essexpress Railfan Weekend so we booked for that as well. When we rang we were
10 ROUNDHOUSE
 






















































































   8   9   10   11   12