Grand Junction revisited
Author: Bruce Butler
Date: 02-12-2007 - 18:06
I revisited Grand Junction this afternoon to refresh my memory. It is amazing that a place could change so much in 50 years! The BNSF (ex NP) Coeur d'Alene branch runs almost north-south, crossing the UP (ex SI) east-west line at almost 90 degrees. The MILW Metaline branch crossed the south-east quadrant at almost 45 degrees. Their crossing of the UP is about 120 yards east of the diamond and they crossed the NP about 80 yards south of the diamond. The MILW r/w is really hard to spot. There are some small cuts right at the UP xing, and then again a bit west of the NP xing.
Cut me a little slack on these compass directions and degrees. I eyeballed it and paced the distances.
There is a foundation west of the xing that appears too small to have been for the depot. I suspect that it may have been a motor car shed that was built after the depot was removed. The water tank cement foundations have been bulldozed out of the ground and piled near the water tank location. I found the hole in the ground where I think the water pipe went up into the tank.
For those who may be wondering, Grand Junction was a 3-way at-grade crossing of Spokane International (now UP), Northern Pacific (now BNSF) and Milwaukee (abandoned about 1975) located about a mile north of Post Falls Idaho and a couple of miles east of the Washington Idaho state line.