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If you’ve ever been to West Yellowstone, you’ve probably seen the Holiday Inn at 315 Yellowstone Avenue. And if so, you may have noticed the adjacent restaurant, The Branch Restaurant & Bar, which is known as one of the best spots in town to enjoy a good meal.

But unless you’ve been inside either, you most likely haven’t seen the little piece of history hanging out in the annex between the hotel and restaurant, which is called the Oregon Short Line.

larkenridgefield_CT / TripAdvisor
Named for the year it was built, the Oregon Short Line 1903 was built as an executive rail car for the Vice President of the Union Pacific. The cost to construct it was $16,685… to put it into perspective, that would be over $400,000 today with inflation.
vb22 / TripAdvisor
The charm of the wooden exterior and interior design was typical of that time period, but of course, the builders paid great attention to detail since it was such a special rail car. In 1915 it was retrofitted and renamed OSL 150.
larkenridgefield_CT / TripAdvisor
In 1935 the train car was gifted to E.C. Manson, superintendent of the Idaho division of the Oregon Short Line, as a retirement gift (and what a great gift!). Mr. Mason placed it on a stone relic, where it was eventually used by several people as a summer home.

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vb22 / TripAdvisor
After Clyde and Linda Seely bought the Oregon Short Line in 1975 and lived in it for a summer, they discovered its true identity. By that time, many coats of paint and the passing years had disguised it. So they did what any good history-loving Montanans would do: They restored it, moved it a few blocks, and built the Holiday Inn around it in 1995 along with the Howell family.
larkenridgefield_CT / TripAdvisor
management photo / TripAdvisor
Guests at the Holiday Inn and patrons of the Branch Restaurant, pictured above, are always welcome to take self-guided tours of the train car. History is all around us in Montana, and in this case, we mean that literally.
larkenridgefield_CT / TripAdvisor

There are so many interesting stories about Montana’s past. Check out the history of our state’s oldest standing restaurant.

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