Survivor
The MRL 705 was an oddball, but persevered to have a varied history in Montana and Iowa. Acquired in the 1990's, the 705 was one of 4 SD35's acquired by the railroad, although 704 did not last long. Assigned to IMRL in the late 1990's, once returned the trio spent time as the Gas Local power, paired up with RCL cabooses in Laurel, and towards the end of their career powered the nightly Laurel-Billings train known simply as "The Transfer". Equipped with new trucks swapped out in 2008 and fresh paint in 2011, it was stored in the mid 2010's, occasionally seeing service on a passenger special. Most figured the end had come. Salvation arrived in 2019 in the form of a new transload facility in Park City. After mechanical work, the 705 was sent to Laurel to live out the rest of its days. It primarily served as the Park City switch engine but once COVID killed that job it could be seen on any job in Laurel, including the Transfer, LAUBOZ and hooked up to an RCL caboose once again. For all the problems they had early on, by this point 705 had become a fairly reliable unit in the capacity it was asked to serve. Even though the MRL was power short, in late 2020 all 3 SD35's were sold to the Great Lakes Central with a new lease on life. 705 went right into service, and hasn't missed a beat since. Oh, the shot itself? A clean 705 idles the day away at the roho, awaiting another night servicing Park City.
Survivor
The MRL 705 was an oddball, but persevered to have a varied history in Montana and Iowa. Acquired in the 1990's, the 705 was one of 4 SD35's acquired by the railroad, although 704 did not last long. Assigned to IMRL in the late 1990's, once returned the trio spent time as the Gas Local power, paired up with RCL cabooses in Laurel, and towards the end of their career powered the nightly Laurel-Billings train known simply as "The Transfer". Equipped with new trucks swapped out in 2008 and fresh paint in 2011, it was stored in the mid 2010's, occasionally seeing service on a passenger special. Most figured the end had come. Salvation arrived in 2019 in the form of a new transload facility in Park City. After mechanical work, the 705 was sent to Laurel to live out the rest of its days. It primarily served as the Park City switch engine but once COVID killed that job it could be seen on any job in Laurel, including the Transfer, LAUBOZ and hooked up to an RCL caboose once again. For all the problems they had early on, by this point 705 had become a fairly reliable unit in the capacity it was asked to serve. Even though the MRL was power short, in late 2020 all 3 SD35's were sold to the Great Lakes Central with a new lease on life. 705 went right into service, and hasn't missed a beat since. Oh, the shot itself? A clean 705 idles the day away at the roho, awaiting another night servicing Park City.