Bruce Butler Wrote:
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> Now, a "what if" thought. If the rebuild of the
> MILW between Ellensburg and Lind were to go
> forward, one idea mentioned to me by a former
> GN/BN official, would be to rebuild the line
> between Wheeler and Adrian and connect with the
> former GN mainline there instead of connecting
> with the former NP at Lind. I am not going to
> name names here, but this idea made a lot of sense
> to me.

There's a bigger portion to this "what if." Most of the ex-MILW RofW through Ellensburg has been obliterated, a lot of which now sits under the campus of Central Washington University. If BNSF is serious about resurrecting this line, they'll have to find another way around town and do it soon. Although it's not the Puget Sound area, land values are going up even in E'burg and the best choices for an alignment south of the yard along the south side of town might make the whole deal economically unfeasible.

On a related note to the original question, there is a great program called USAPhoto Maps available from jdmcox.com. This program allows you to download old satellite photos of the countryside, much the way Google earth does. The best part is that these photos are older and still show a lot of old railroad right of ways in places like Adrian, WA. I've downloaded several areas from the western states trying to trace routes that were gone before I ever had a chance to see them. Another part of the program lets you see topographic maps of the same areas so you can pinpoint what you're looking at. A great research tool.

Ken