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Re: Idaho Northern & Pacific (hopper cars)
Author: Matt Farnsworth
Date: 10-22-2014 - 23:26
I’m not aware of any hopper cars out of the Cascade area. My understanding was they only had the lumber business. I was only in junior high when I first moved to Boise in 2001, and while I tried to keep up with the INPR as much as I could, I had the typical teenager things going on and didn’t pay as much attention to it as I would have liked.
Back before the tunnel problems that shut down service north of Banks, the old Cascade to Smiths Ferry train did really good business, as evidenced by this video from 2008.
[youtu.be]
I rode the Cabarton Flyer and the Horeshoe Bend Express many times in this time period, and rode the Cascade Limited Horseshoe Bend to Cascade run several times as well, all the trains were always packed.
What has happened since the tunnel closure was the INPR has focused on heavily promoting the Horseshoe Bend to Banks run with extras, to the point that it is no longer just a train ride, there is always some gimmicky thing that goes along with it (the mining adventure in Banks, dinner and wine trains, murder mystery trains, ect.) I can’t really complain too much since that run seems to be doing very well. The old Cabarton Flyer also offered rafter service, and it was well used at times, and at other times nothing more than an empty flatcar. I think the issue with the RDC’s/Payettet River Flyer is the lack of advertising and promoting. They had a good thing going at one time, just by getting the word out they could have that going again. Other than the Payette River Flyer website and a short mention of it on the Thunder Mountain Line website there isn’t much advertising of it, to find it and get tickets you have to already know about it. At the very least they need to combine the two websites into one.
Just my opinion of course.
I agree that the entire line has great potential for growth. I sincerely hope they restart the Cascade Limited run, the Banks to Cascade section is really the best part of the whole line. It was kind of a miracle that the line has survived at all, and with the end of freight service, the tunnel closure, the rockslide north of Banks, and the trouble with getting the RDC’s to Idaho the section north of Banks has already used up four of its nine lives, so the fact that anything is running there is good.
Matt F
Moscow ID
Back before the tunnel problems that shut down service north of Banks, the old Cascade to Smiths Ferry train did really good business, as evidenced by this video from 2008.
[youtu.be]
I rode the Cabarton Flyer and the Horeshoe Bend Express many times in this time period, and rode the Cascade Limited Horseshoe Bend to Cascade run several times as well, all the trains were always packed.
What has happened since the tunnel closure was the INPR has focused on heavily promoting the Horseshoe Bend to Banks run with extras, to the point that it is no longer just a train ride, there is always some gimmicky thing that goes along with it (the mining adventure in Banks, dinner and wine trains, murder mystery trains, ect.) I can’t really complain too much since that run seems to be doing very well. The old Cabarton Flyer also offered rafter service, and it was well used at times, and at other times nothing more than an empty flatcar. I think the issue with the RDC’s/Payettet River Flyer is the lack of advertising and promoting. They had a good thing going at one time, just by getting the word out they could have that going again. Other than the Payette River Flyer website and a short mention of it on the Thunder Mountain Line website there isn’t much advertising of it, to find it and get tickets you have to already know about it. At the very least they need to combine the two websites into one.
Just my opinion of course.
I agree that the entire line has great potential for growth. I sincerely hope they restart the Cascade Limited run, the Banks to Cascade section is really the best part of the whole line. It was kind of a miracle that the line has survived at all, and with the end of freight service, the tunnel closure, the rockslide north of Banks, and the trouble with getting the RDC’s to Idaho the section north of Banks has already used up four of its nine lives, so the fact that anything is running there is good.
Matt F
Moscow ID
