By Justin Franz

ESSEX, Mont. — They swarmed like hawks on roadkill along nearby U.S. Highway 2. On Saturday, hundreds of railfans, history buffs and curious locals descended on Montana’s Izaak Walton Inn to purchase whatever they could from the beloved railroad lodge that was recently sold and will soon be renovated by new owners. Just about everything was for sale: from old railroad calendars and lanterns to couches and bed frames. 

The inn was built to house Great Northern Railway crews in 1939 but was also popular with tourists traveling to nearby Glacier National Park and railfans visiting Marias Pass. Over the decades, the inn’s lobby, bar and hallways became packed with railroad memorabilia, much of it related to the GN. The basement bar in particular was full of photos of the railroad’s epic battle to keep Marias Pass clear of snow over the decades. In the summer and fall, it wasn’t uncommon to find railfans staked out on the porch watching trains or up on the pedestrian bridge over BNSF Railway’s busy Hi-Line Subdivision. For years, the inn also hosted the annual Alta-Mont railfan weekend slide show every October. And until recently, BNSF still housed some crews at the hotel in winter. 

In the Spring 1976 edition of Railfan & Railroad, author Karl Zimmermann mused that “At first discovery, the Izaak Walton seemed almost too good to be true. It might have been built for railfans, so perfect a vantage point does it provide of Burlington Northern operations.” 

Two people haul furniture down from the third floor of the Izaak Walton Inn during Saturday’s estate sale. Photo by Justin Franz.

Last year, the inn was purchased by LOGE Camps, a Washington-based hospitality company that pledges to “find forgotten motels near our favorite towns and trails, and bring them back to life.” Company officials said at the time that they planned on remodeling the lodge while also respecting its character and history. But earlier this spring, the company announced that it was working with a local estate sale company to sell about 1,000 surplus items from the inn, including many pieces of railroadiana. 

Laron Turley, executive vice president of development for LOGE, told Railfan & Railroad on Saturday, that the company was retaining a number of historic items for the lodge’s remodel. Amongst the hundreds of items for sale were some labeled “Not For Sale,” including old GN logos and track diagrams. But other historic items, including calendars featuring portraits of Blackfeet Indians done by artist Winold Reiss for the GN in the 1930s, were up for grabs. Some items were also offered to local museums ahead of the estate sale. 

“It was important for LOGE Camps to give back to the community and share some of the history of the Izaak Walton Inn,” Turley said of the estate sale. 

An old Great Northern hardhat sits in the lobby of the Izaak Walton waiting for its new owner to pick it up. Photo by Justin Franz.

People started gathering in the rain hours before the doors opened at 10 a.m. Saturday and those who were early enough got a number, one through 50, allowing them to get in first — at least for that day. Despite public assurances from the estate sale company that there would not be a pre-sale or early access for anyone, attendees learned that approximately 100 people were quietly invited the night before to get first dibs on the loot. By the time the public got in on Saturday, a few big-ticket items, including a GN station sign and some of the Reiss calendars, were already gone. At least one local resident standing in the rain griped that the new owners of the inn were “not winning a lot of hearts and minds with this.” 

At 10 a.m., the early birds who scored numbers were let in and moments after the rest of the crowd — easily numbering in the hundreds — swarmed in behind them. The remaining GN calendars were quick to go, along with lamps made of railroad spikes. Within minutes the lobby was jammed with people trying to pay for their new treasures. 

Among those buying was Barbara Paul, a lifelong Northwest Montana resident whose family had deep ties to Glacier Park. She collects memorabilia related to the railroad and the park and found a frame full of old brochures. While she was happy with her find, she was disappointed about how it came about, wishing the new owners would have decided to keep the inn as it was. 

“It’s sad, really sad,” she said of the pending changes to the inn. “I knew the inn would sell, but I didn’t think the new owners would gut the place, for lack of a better word.”

Ed Krona worked for the Great Northern, Burlington Northern and BNSF Railway for 44 years and often stayed at the Izaak Walton Inn. Photo by Justin Franz. 

Nearby, veteran railroader Ed Krona wandered around looking at what was left. Krona worked for the GN, BN and BNSF for 44 years before retiring in 2000. He had many memories at the inn, especially in winter when working on plow trains over Marias Pass. 

“I spent many a night here,” he said, “especially when working in snow service. I hate to see it go.”

During the event, which featured a food truck and live music courtesy of LOGE Camps, the company shared renderings of its planned remodel. While the floor plan of the inn — which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places — will remain mostly unchanged, past visitors will notice some major differences when it reopens. The lobby and basement bar will look considerably more modern, albeit with some rustic touches. There will also be a coffee stand where the hotel’s front desk was. The rooms will also be revamped with storage for outdoor gear and skis (the inn maintains an extensive cross-country ski trail network). The rendering also showed a hammock above the bed. 

Officials said they expect the inn to reopen in the spring of 2024 under a new name: LOGE Glacier.