Printed in the Carbon County News July 10, 2025

Historic preservation has always been the mission of the Buses of Yellowstone Preservation Trust, particularly as it relates to original operating motorized vehicles used in Yellowstone Park prior to WWII and the historic AD Whitcomb garage in which they reside. That mission recently expanded to the preservation of the old blacksmith shop doors not-so-long-ago replaced on the backside of our historic garage located in Red Lodge. 

The wooden doors are being preserved as they have shapes and images burned into the wood by skilled blacksmiths AD and Byron Whitcomb who once worked in the blacksmith shop.  According to David Whitcomb, a Buses of Yellowstone Preservation Trust Board of Director, “My grandfather, AD, and father, Byron, crafted tools, hardware, agricultural implements, decorative and other objects for local ranchers, farmers and many others around the area. They crafted the objects from iron and steel, heating and shaping them using tools like hammers, tongs and anvils. They then used the backside of the blacksmith shop doors for testing. The testing involved burning the heated object into the wooden doors to look for irregularities and surface imperfections. Adjustments were made when needed with additional testing performed.”

The blacksmith doors are original to the blacksmith shop located on the backside of the garage constructed by AD Whitcomb in 1936. They replaced a previously constructed garage and blacksmith shop which AD acquired in 1925. 

According to David, “AD was a skilled blacksmith who practiced the craft in Minnesota prior to moving to Red Lodge in 1925. He passed down his mastery of blacksmithing to his son Byron, creating a family dynasty of blacksmithing. It was a skill both AD and Byron learned from hands-on experience and mentorship. They were both widely known and highly respected for their blacksmithing skills.” 

Blacksmithing was performed in the blacksmith shop into the 1960s. Byron was the primary blacksmith at that time using the skills his father had taught him. It was a vital craft that served so many in the area as evident in the many shapes and images burned into the old blacksmith doors. The doors are now on display in the historic garage located in Red Lodge. 

Have you ever wanted to have a snowball fight in the middle of summer? Do you dream of riding high in the saddle through mountain meadows, or viewing bison herds in their unspoiled habitat (from a safe distance)? It’s all possible in Montana’s Yellowstone Country!

The Beartooth Highway in southern Montana offers a refreshing twist on the classic summer road trip, as icy lakes and snowdrifts await travelers on the highest paved roadway in the state. 

While Glacier National Park boasts its famous 6,646-foot Going-to-the-Sun Road, travelers on the 10,947-foot Beartooth Highway might feel like they’ve entered the lower reaches of the stratosphere. 

A steady climb winds past waterfalls, wildflowers and windswept pines until the tree line gives way to a fragile and rocky landscape capped by a boundless dome of sky. The surrounding Beartooth Mountains are home to elk, deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, grizzly and black bears, mountain lions, and many other species.

At over 2 miles above sea level, snow often lingers year-round along the roadside, and the thin alpine air offers an intoxicating respite from stifling summer heat.

One way to feel the wind in your hair is from the open canopy top of a vintage 1937 White Motor Company sunflower-yellow touring bus.

Based in Red Lodge, nonprofit Buses of Yellowstone's mission is to preserve the beloved vehicles, which replaced horses in Yellowstone National Park in 1917 and ferried tourists to and from attractions up until World War II.

Cheryl Whitcomb, volunteer and marketing coordinator with the Buses of Yellowstone Preservation Trust, says groups can book a four to five-hour guided bus trip up the Beartooth Pass to picnic, sightsee and stop for plenty of photos.

The tour is a photographer’s dream, as riders can see unique vistas and vertical reaches through the roll-top canvas roof.

“You can stand and look out the top of the bus. It’s almost like you can touch the sky,” Whitcomb says. “I call it a ‘bucket list’ ride, because you’ve never experienced anything like it before.”

Several of the restored art deco-style buses are on display in a historic service station garage alongside other vehicles of the era. Touring the showroom is free, but the nonprofit asks for a minimum donation for full rides. They cater to automotive enthusiasts, families, avid sightseers and history buffs — even hosting visitors from as far away as London and Thailand.

Experience the trip as it was in the 1930s, with homegrown drivers who have intimate knowledge of the vehicles, the Beartooth Highway and the Big Sky state itself. As Whitcomb puts it, “We are the real thing, and we have some really great stories to tell.”