While travelling in Montana, one of the sounds we heard that we were not used to, was the rumble of the trains going by about every half hour.
I’m guessing this one was carrying some kind of oil but we saw all sorts of things being transported by train – grain, coal, and even what looked like the shells of jet airplanes
At first when trains went by at night in the distance, I wondered who had turned on the trailer furnace. The muted rumbling had a similar growl. But we soon got used to it. When you think about it, it makes more sense to move huge amounts of freight by train than by truck.
I wanted to post a few photos of Montana that I thought were pretty, and of course they will be of trees, grasses, and skies.
Crabapple trees near Fort Peck.
A Russian olive tree.
A lovely tree-lined driveway.
Can you hear the soft swishing of the grasses in the wind?
An undecided sky.
November 14, 2014 at 10:19 pm
My, you got some great photos while you were here! I especially like the one with the pond; that’s beautiful! Looks like good pheasant habitat too.
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November 14, 2014 at 10:31 pm
Yes, it is that! Had a wonderful trip. I love Montana. So beautiful.
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November 15, 2014 at 1:01 am
You get a good sense of Big Sky Country . I love Montana too.
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November 15, 2014 at 8:00 am
The big sky is something I look forward to each year. When we came home I noticed that we had only a fraction of sky showing because of trees and hills blocking the rest of the view.
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November 15, 2014 at 4:39 am
Thanks for showing me a Crabapple Tree. We live on (Lower) Crabapple Road, but there are no Crabapple Trees around.
Have a great weekend,
Pit
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November 15, 2014 at 7:59 am
These crabapples would make a wonderful crabapple jelly!
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November 15, 2014 at 5:22 am
Lovely photos…
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November 15, 2014 at 8:01 am
Thanks, Carol. There’s always something to see in Montana.
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November 15, 2014 at 5:35 am
Lovely, peaceful photos. When I hear the whistle of the train in the distance, it’s reminds me of home, because we used to hear that frequently where I grew up. Because it was way in the distance, it wasn’t loud or disturbing, but somehow a sound of security.
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November 15, 2014 at 8:02 am
It’s what you get used to. After a couple of weeks I didn’t notice it so much anymore, but I did notice that it was much quieter at night once we got home.
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November 15, 2014 at 7:05 am
I feel the crunch under my runners as I walk the long driveway. I smell the apples and love the imperfect sky.
Montana is a treat for all our senses. Possibly covered in the white stuff right now. That’s ok too!
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November 15, 2014 at 8:03 am
I’m sure they have snow. We left just in time. I hope they don’t have too hard a winter.
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November 15, 2014 at 9:53 am
I will never forget the haunting sound of the train whistle – it seems to go with and suit the prairies – isolation, loneliness …
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November 15, 2014 at 11:57 am
And the trains themselves seem to go on forever. Sometimes we’ve counted over 100 cars.
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November 15, 2014 at 10:24 am
I love your pictures (as always), thanks for sharing them.
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November 15, 2014 at 9:10 pm
Thank you, Ursula! So glad you like them.
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November 15, 2014 at 9:00 pm
Anneli… you have such talent when it comes to photography… the last three are absolutely outstanding… and they would make brilliant pictures or paintings that I’d hang on my walls… The crabapple tree I don’t know and assume it is a type of wild apple?? if it is, the fruit, are they edible.??… the Russian olive tree looks very similar to our wild olive that grows here… Man I keep returning to the tree-lined driveway and the grass landscape… what beauty…
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November 15, 2014 at 9:10 pm
Awww… that makes me feel really good, Rob. I love taking pictures but I know I’m not doing the camera justice. I need to learn more of the technical stuff. Too lazy or too rushed for time. I’m not sure which. I wish I could just have someone show me the settings to use on the camera. So glad you love the Montana scenery just as I do. The crabapples are very sour and bitter. You wouldn’t eat them as they are, just off the tree, but they are excellent when they’re cooked with sugar. Makes great jelly. A bit like our cranberries that wouldn’t be so good eaten raw, but make great jelly. I kind of have a fondness for the Russian olive trees since someone told me that the pheasants eat the fruit when there’s nothing left on the ground for them to eat.
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November 15, 2014 at 9:39 pm
I wouldn’t go looking too far for those settings things your photos don’t need it…
The olives here are the tiniest of seeds and watching different birds and animals eating them I decided to try them out… they are the sweetest tasting olive oil I’ve ever had… now when the trees are in fruit the birds and animals have to compete with me…
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November 15, 2014 at 9:58 pm
I thought olives were too bitter to eat off the tree and have to be dried or treated with lye or some other chemicals to get the oil out. I don’t really know much about it at all, but I’d heard that you can’t eat them just off the tree. Are you sure it’s olives you’re talking about?
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November 18, 2014 at 12:17 pm
I grew up in a house (til I was 8) where I would like in bed and listen to the train rushing by. That seems to far away now.
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November 18, 2014 at 2:06 pm
Do you remember (no, of course not – before your time) a song called In the MIddle of the House. (The railroad comes through the middle of the house…) 1956. Sometimes when you live near the tracks it sounds as if the “railroad comes through the middle of the house.”
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November 18, 2014 at 3:26 pm
Maybe it played when I was a baby!
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November 18, 2014 at 3:37 pm
I listened to it on youtube just now and it’s so basic and poorly done. Typical of a lot of the country and western songs of those times. Funny how we didn’t hear how shabby it sounded. Guess we have higher expectations now with all the electronic sound enhancing capabilities available. The real thing (the train) sounds pretty much the same now as it did then).
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November 19, 2014 at 1:08 am
Wow, tolle Fotos.
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November 19, 2014 at 9:06 am
Dankeschoen, Martina. Freut mich dass sie dir gefallen.
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October 23, 2017 at 9:40 pm
Gorgeous skies and I like trains, Anneli. 🚂 🚅
The last photograph was my favorite of an “undecided sky.”
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October 23, 2017 at 9:50 pm
Thanks for checking back to this older post, Robin.
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