Big Bend Railroad History: Monte Holm

Monday, June 22, 2026

Saturday, November 8, 2025

The 557 Lives!

In what again seems to be a timely news item, the 557 has been steamed up.
Hopefully this public link to the 557 Restoration Facebook page will work.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/731764013281659

Thursday, January 26, 2023

New Life For An Old Locomotive

Newsletter courtesy of Bill Virgin.

January 2012

Bill had reached out to me to use my photo of the 557, which I quickly granted in exchange for a copy of the newsletter.

I don't know when the newsletter was discontinued, but a casual search of the interwebs didn't turn up anything, other than Mr. Virgin passing in 2020.

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Monte Holm's Cabooses Leave Moses Lake

Photos taken November 17, 2021.

These cabeese, purchased by Monte Holm for his railroad, the Mon-Road Railroad, were the next to last major items left of his collection at the site of his old museum, next to Moses Lake Iron & Metal. Their new owner, in Oregon, hired the crew to pick these up and ship them the 9 hour drive.

Prior to the crew arriving, someone had allowed the cabeese to move from their home on a long time spur, behind a locked gate, out onto what is the old Milwaukee Road Moses Lake branch, most recently served by the Columbia Basin Railway, but the line is out of service at this point. The folks didn't attend to a derail, which knocked a set of wheels off the track of the leading caboose. The crew spent the most of the first day rerailing it the hard way (by hand and a truck), before getting to the point of being able to prep the cabeese for the move the next day.

Note the derailed truck.

A nice surprise found in one caboose.

CB&Q heritage is showing.

Nice try, boys. But that one truck was in the derailment, and now the bearings are out of place and a stronger power will be needed to move the wheels.