REED POINT — Just down the road from the Montana Rail Link train derailment, a small-town restaurant is feeding crews working to fix the big-time disaster.
The Waterhole Saloon and Steakhouse is described by the owner, Jerry Bichsel, as a "typical small town bar in Montana," with license plates and dollar bills decorating the wooden walls.
"(We're) slow through the winter, but as the weather gets nice, things start ramping up," Bichsel said on Monday.
When Bichsel walked through the doors to his restaurant Monday afternoon after being in Bozeman over the weekend, he was surprised by the number of people seated. After speaking with his daughter and son-in-law, who run the restaurant, he found out they've been very busy feeding the crews working to clean up the train that had derailed on a bridge that collapsed into the Yellowstone River.
“It was one of our best Saturday nights so far, or Saturday day and night so far,” Bichsel said. “We’re proud to have such an excellent bunch of people around that are working on this problem.”
Phoenix LaBrek, Bichsel's son-in-law, was initially worried about how the train derailment could harm the Yellowstone River.
"My first thought was more the nature and wildlife and the impact it's going to have on it because of, well, a train dumping into the river,” he said. “My second thought was, oh, we’re going to be busy.”
LaBrek was right about being busy. During lunch and dinner, the bar and restaurant was full of hungry crew members.
“They tend to come in about five to 20 a piece,” LaBrek said.
While the uptick in business for a small-town restaurant has been nice, both LaBrek and Bichsel shared concerns that another big business weekend could be canceled because of the derailment: The Yellowstone Boat Float, a three-day float that typically runs from Livingston to Columbus. While the event has not been canceled, it appears unlikely that rafters would be allowed to travel past the derailment.
For now, they're both just grateful no one was injured in the derailment and that it appears cleanup is happening as quickly as possible.
“This is a huge impact to not just the community, but the whole region and state. And I'd just like everybody to, you know, have patience. We’ll get through this,” Bichsel said.
