It's true. I also heard that the Gilmore & Pittsburg Railroad has applied to the STB to retake their old ROW from Salmon to Leadore in the State of Idaho, now being used by State Highway 28. Some quirk in the "rails to trails" legislation of yore has allowed the descendents of the original directors to not only take back their ROW from the Idaho DOT, but the DOT has to reimburse them for roughly 70 years of unpaid rent. This new revenue will help the G&P to expand beyond it's original pricipal terminals of Salmon to the north and Gilmore to the south. The southern extension will run from the old Gilmore townsite south/southwest to connect with the new Nevada Central UP connection in Twin Falls, allowing G&P's 3 online customers direct access to the Port of LA/Long Beach. The northern extension will run from Salmon northwest to Kooskia Idaho by way of an 80 mile tunnel under the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, allowing customers to access the Port of Lewiston via the BG&CM and GNW railroads. This new line will also allow UP to have overhead rights to the Portland area since the entire G&P's westbound ruling grades will not exceed 0.87%, allowing UP grain trains to bypass the Blue Mountains altogether.

Construction is set to begin in, oh.....I guess around noon. Volunteers are encouraged to show up with picks and shovels at the fore. Pitchforks and tuning forks are right out.