Jack Wrote:
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> GN from Sandpoint to Spokane abandonment (actually
> from Sandpoint to Dean) was in the original 1970
> merger plan. NP had better grades, Hillyard was a
> bad yard to switch, GN
> line through downtown was going away for Expo and
> a new connection that pointed west would have been
> too costly and more.

It is interesting to note that the GN had seriously considered bypassing Spokane entirely via the Little Spokane River to the north. This alignment would have avoided the up and down grades into Spokane proper, not to mention all the street crossings and the downtown bridges over the river. When the BN merger finally came about, the BN spent a lot of money to build the Latah Creek Bridge and the realignment of the ex-GN route up to the West Plains.

I am just wondering if BN even considered reviving the GN's proposed alignment along the Little Spokane River and allowing through freights to bypass modern Spokane altogether. Would it really have been that much more expensive? Remember, Pasco-bound freights could have used the ex-SP&S/GN line via the Riverside area (where presumably the northern bypass would reaquire the GN line).