Jan. 30 – On this day in Montana history in 1911, the Great Northern Railway added “a mammoth

locomotive” to its equipment headquartered in Butte that was said to be “one of the largest

locomotives ever seen in the West.” It was used to pull ore trains from Mountain View to Woodville up a

very steep grade. The engine had 14 drive wheels and was 86 feet in length. “It is built in the new style

of low smokestacks, small bell, and everything close and compact so as to reduce resistance to the

minimum,” the railway said.