Laurel
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Montana
Laurel
Directory Listings
A view from 1939:
LAUREL, (3,311 alt., 2,558 pop.), straggles on both
sides of an intricate pattern of railroad tracks. Products
from many parts of the world pass over the joint trackage here
of the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy. From here much of Montana's wheat,
hay, copper, zinc, livestock, wool, lumber, poles, and other
products are routed directly east to midwestern towns; southeast
to St. Louis, Kansas City, and Gulf points; and west for ocean
shipment. Long drags (ordinary trains, or strings of empty
cars), redballs (special merchandise trains, with sealed cars),
and hotshots (trains that travel at excess speed from terminal
to terminal) arrive here, are "broke up" and "made
up," and depart at all hours of the day and night.
Source: Montana: A State Guide Book; Compiled and Written
by the Federal Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration
for the State of Montana; September, 1939. |