Black Diamonds from the Treasure State

"Starry-eyed visionaries and hard-headed railroaders populate this beautifully written history of railroading in Big Sky Country. In the face of determined opposition from the Northern Pacific Railway, local entrepreneurs struggled to exploit the resources of southern Montana. While they never reached their intended destination of Yellowstone National Park, they built a rail line that was both an ally and adversary of the powerful NP. With lyrical prose, Robert Schalla provides a masterful account of the determination and perseverance that brought the Montana, Wyoming & Southern to the coalfields that lay at the foothills of the Rockies."—Albert J. Churella, author of The Pennsylvania Railroad

"An engrossing, well-written and researched story about an almost forgotten railroad that had big expectations. An important addition to Montana's railroad history"—Jon Axline, Montana Department of Transportation

"Montana's industry blosomed after the arrival of the railroads in the 1880s. Precious metal mining, copper production, lumbering, agriculture and transportation quickly expanded utilizing steam power. This required fuel.Until WWII coal was the best option. The state's three transcontintal railroads and the Anaconda company immediately laid claim to large tracts of coal lands. Late into this competitive market came entrepeneur Frank Hall and his Montana, Wyoming and Southern RR scheme to haul coal from the Bear Creek mines. Robert Schalla successfully traces Hall's ongoing struggle. This well researched and detailed new book entitled Black Diamonds from the Treasure State is a great read."—Bill Taylor, co-author of Rails to Gold and Silver, The Montana Central Ry, The NP's Mullan Pass and The Butte Shortline.

"Schalla relays the riveting true story of the New World Mining District, the early mining pioneers in the Yellowstone and Carbon County areas, who faced multiple hurdles of greed and beguiling to bring coal transportation and economy to the South Central regions of Montana."—Becky Van Horn, Carbon County Historical Preservation Officer

"In south central Montana, the decades around the beginning of the twentieth century saw promotion, sometimes leading to operations, of coal and gold mines and railroads intended to reach those mines.  This book covers several such plans and enterprises, and in particular focuses on one railroad—the Montana, Wyoming & Southern—built to link a coal mining district to Montana's rail network.  The thoroughly researched text covers hopeful promoters, anxious investors, complaining coal mine operators, the often-frustrated connecting Northern Pacific Railway, and enduring employees.  Unique for the region among its rolling stock, the MW&S operated a geared Shay locomotive and a self-propelled McKeen passenger car."—Dale Martin, Author of Ties, Rails, and Telegraph Wires: Railroads and Communities in Montana and the West