Now standing along the old railbed of the Northern Pacific Railway about 7.5 miles south of its birthplace, the Trident Railway Station is today part of a small historic park in Three Forks and is slated to open as a museum.
Built at Trident, Montana in 1910 by the Northern Pacific Railroad, the station was the town's major link to the outside world until the advent of improved highways and motor vehicles. Built by the Three Forks Portland Cement Company, the town of Trident was a company town with but one product, cement processed from the surrounding limestone hills. The company built housing on site which was rented by employees of the plant at a very affordable rate. When, in the 1940s and 50s, it became easier to commute from nearby Three Forks, employees, in spite of the cheap rent available in Trident, began to build houses in Three Forks. Slowly Trident emptied, the post office closed and the railway station closed, remaining unused until being threatened with demolition in 2010. A group in Three Forks rescued the station and had it moved to Three Forks in 2011.
A news article, originally published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and reprinted in its sister paper, The Belgrade News, provides additional details. The article is excerpted below.
Three Forks history buffs work
to save Trident rail depot
By Jolene Keller, Bozeman Daily Chronicle | Mar 15, 2011
TRIDENT — Looking west from the Holcim Trident Cement Plant to the open field of tall cottonwoods framed by limestone cliffs and the Missouri River, it’s hard to imagine the village of Trident ever even existed there. Except for the plotted cottonwoods, the mine and train depot on the east side of the main road, nothing remains of the town today.
But just a few generations ago Trident was a bustling community with over 2,500 residents living and working in and around the cement factory. There was a K-8 school, a hotel, bowling alley, pool hall, theater, and more.
Now, the Three Forks Area Historical Society is working preserve the train depot and keep Trident’s history alive.
Last year the Three Forks Historical Society caught wind that the current owners of the depot, Montana Rail Link, were planning to demolish the depot, and in turn one of the last remnants of Trident’s colorful past.
The folks at the Society knew they couldn’t let that happen.
In January, historical society members decided they would go ahead with a plan to move the depot. In February they worked with the city of Three Forks to obtain a small plot of land near the Headwaters Heritage Museum, and found Pro Hand Services, owned by Belgrade resident Troy Dorrell, to move the old building.
Three Forks Historical Society treasurer and local historian Patrick Finnegan said that it would normally cost about $50,000 to move a building like the depot, but Dorrell said he’d relocate the depot to Three Forks for a fraction of the cost — only $16,000.
As a nonprofit funded solely by donations, the group is now in the midst of a $40,000 fund-raising project to cover the cost of moving the building, putting in a new foundation where it will be relocated to, and money for long-term maintenance of the depot. They hope to have it moved by June this year.
Once it’s in its new location, the historical society plans to restore the depot into a museum celebrating the history of Trident.
In 1910 the Northern Pacific Railroad which runs in front of the mine built the depot that remains to this day.
For the next 40 years Trident continued to grow and prosper, but by the mid-1950s, good roads and cheap automobiles made commuting appealing. While the rent for company housing in Trident was cheap, many workers pursued the “American Dream” began purchasing their own homes outside the town.
By the 1960s, the village was less than half occupied. In the mid-1970s, the post office closed. The last renter moved out of the village in 1996.
From the The Belgrade News