I too met and regularly visited with UP agent Frank Snieder and the UP train crews while attending the University of Idaho in the mid 80's. As I recall Frank said he was one of the last agents in the Palouse and upon his retirement UP would close his little office across the street from Cavanaughs Hotel and the customers would have to call a "non-personal" 1-800 to conduct business. I gathered from Frank that in years past the local agent was similar to your local bank branch (before ATM's) where the customers could talk face-to-face with a company representative and build a solid business relationship. Now the customers would have to call the faceless 1-800 number which would be more of a negative for customer service. I believe Frank was totally right. Frank retired around 1985 - 1986, the agency office closed, and I witnessed the rail traffic evaporate. I distinctly remember the stub yard in downtown Moscow plugged full of grain cars in 1984 and the crew with two or three GP's visiting Moscow three days a week as they roamed the Palouse between Spokane, Colfax, and Hooper Junction. The same thing happened to the BN service to Moscow.

I visited Moscow two years ago and was shocked to see the rail service nearly gone. The BN and UP lines had been merged into one system, a good share of the grain and lentil elevators had their rails ripped out, and the BN "Arrow Line" to Lewiston was a bike trail. However, Hwy 95 had been totally reconfigured through town and Potlatch was running these huge multi-axle woodchip trucks between points north and Lewiston (traffic that probably used to be hauled in railroad woodchip hopper cars). I felt like that Indian on the pollution commercial years ago, I had a tear in my eye.

Cheers to Frank and the UP Moscow Branch train crews, thanks for the memories of good days gone.

Steve