Bed and Breakfast Inn
30 Minutes West of Missoula in
Alberton, Montana
info@ghostrailsinn.com

702 Railroad Ave.
Alberton Mt, 59820-9482
406-722-4990 | 888-271-9317
Innkeepers — Thom Garrett & Grace Doyle

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History of Ghost Rails Inn

Ghost Rails Inn B & B
Alberton, Montana
Formerly "The Montana Hotel"

In 1909 the old Milwaukee Railroad built this place to house its crew. The trains rumbled through here for most of that century, pausing in Alberton to take on water and change crews. This was an important stop because this was where locomotives were switched from electric-powered, adequate for relatively flat terrain to the east, to steam-powered, necessary to haul heavy loads over the steep mountain passes to the west.

The Milwaukee electric-powered locomotives known as the "Little Joes" were originally built for Joseph Stalin in Russia, but post-World War II politics prevented the sale from going through. The Milwaukee Road purchased 12 of the Little Joes in 1947, and they remained in service until June 15, 1974.

When the Milwaukee Road abandoned services and pulled up the tracks in the mid-1970's, the town of Alberton nearly disappeared. The railroad is many years gone now, but not forgotten here in Alberton.

Today small-town Alberton is coming back to life, mostly as a bedroom community for nearby Missoula, and the whistle of the Little Joe is just a distant echo of the wind. But still, a phantom brakeman awaits his call in a certain upstairs room of this old hotel. . .or so we're told.

The Railroad's gone but the spirit lives on!

It's easy to make reservations
right here on our website: