Continental Divide Elevation 6,393 feet, Homestake Pass, Montana
N 45° 55.163 W 112° 24.705
12T E 390526 N 5086059
Interstate I-90 crosses the Continental Divide at the elevation of 6,393 feet at the Homestake Pass, near Butte, MT.
Waymark Code: WM9YHC
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 10/17/2010
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***NOTE: DO NOT STOP ON THE FREEWAY TO TAKE PHOTOS OF THE SIGN!
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Railroad buffs will remember the name "Homestake Pass". The steep Pass was used by the Northern Pacific Railway as its curvey, twisty route from Logan, Montana to Garrison, Montana, through Butte, starting in 1889 and was an engineering marvel for that time.
The rail line over the pass is now owned by BNSF Railway, but they discontinued using it in 1983. This was the rail the Northern Pacific's scenic transcontinental passenger train used for the popular and famous "North Coast Limited" circuit.
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The Northern Pacific Railway used the pass for its line from Logan, Montana to Garrison, Montana via Butte (Rocky Mountain Division, Second and Fourth Subdivisions) built in 1889.
Homestake Pass is a mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of Montana in the United States. It sits on the continental divide on the border between Jefferson County, Montana and Silver Bow County, Montana, six miles south-southeast of Butte, Montana in Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest at a height of 6,329 feet (1,929 m). The pass was discovered by Edwin Harrison McHenry, a civil engineer working for the Northern Pacific. McHenry was tasked with locating a line from the NP's main line near Logan, Montana, through to Butte.
The Northern Pacific Railway used the pass for its line from Logan, Montana to Garrison, Montana via Butte (Rocky Mountain Division, Second and Fourth Subdivisions) built in 1889. The line over the pass is currently owned by BNSF Railway, but has been inactive since 1983. This was Northern Pacific's scenic transcontinental passenger train route used by the famous North Coast Limited.