“I’ve been working on the railroad. All the live long day, I’ve been working on the railroad, Just to pass the time away.”

Maybe Montana Rail Link (MRL) workers weren’t singing this old 1890s American folk song, but they were acting out the part as MRL crews installed 34,820 feet of new rail across 51 miles of track in Mineral County.

The work started on the west end of the county in March, and crews have been working their way east, reported Information Officer Jim Lewis. They also installed 11,235 ties with an average cost of $92 per tie, which totaled the project cost at $1,033,620. It is part of the entire Mineral County maintenance program cost of $1.6 million.

Lewis said they were 90 percent complete in the Mineral County part of the project by June 21. The entire project is Montana Rail Link’s 2018 annual maintenance program totaling $68 Million, “our largest ever,” said Lewis.

This included replacing and installing 170,032 new ties; replacing or installing approximately 26 miles of rail; and 275 miles of surface work, including new ballast. The company also spent $4.2 million on upgrade and repair work on bridges, trestles and culverts; $5.1 million on signal maintenance and upgrades; $700,000 on tunnels and buildings; and $13.5 million on new equipment, including two additional locomotives.

In order to accomplish this work, Montana Rail Link hired 34 additional track laborers, bringing the total number of track laborers to 262. Lewis also said the steel gang consists of 32 employees and 18 pieces of equipment, and the tie gang has 41 employees and 23 pieces of equipment.

“MRL is proud of our commitment to safety, and since 1997 our accident has decreased by 86 percent,” Lewis said.

During the work through the Alberton area, a number of residents expressed concern regarding the closure of the Petty Creek Railroad crossing. There aren’t easily accessible alternative routes through the canyon.

Lewis said their policy with crossing projects is to place signage up 24 hours in advance of work that includes work times and alternate routes — if the crossing will be completely closed.

“We also have employees working at the crossing that can accommodate emergency crossing needs. In the case of the Petty Creek crossing, our engineering department informs me that we built detour crossings to reroute traffic during the project,” Lewis said.

Montana Rail Link is based in Missoula and operates more than 900 route miles of track in Montana and Idaho. It employees nearly 1,200 people. It services more than 125 local Montana and regional businesses, and moves products to domestic and international markets on a daily basis.