Re: Spokane Area questions: SLS&E
Author: Bruce Kelly
Date: 02-16-2007 - 07:54
7.5-minute topo of Spokane (or visit terraserverUSA) seems to show bits of the SLS&E right of way. From histories I've read, this line took off from the west end of what was later shown as a UP/SI branch on the northwest side of the city. SLS&E wandered northwest into the river valley then turned south past the area of Fort Wright Jct. (where GN and SP&S connected). On the topo, I believe you see a tiny piece of the ROW curving through Indian Canyon southwest of present day Indian Canyon Bridge. Gets lost from there until the small dashed lines reappear south of I-90, southwest of present day Latah Junction. There's an obvious abd. RR line shown, snaking westward and eventually becoming a straight line (not a territorial boundary) that passes to the north side of I-90 just southwest of the airport. At about this point, the ROW comes into alignment with Electric Avenue. It's a bit easier to trace the old GN (previously Spokane, Coeur d'Alene & Palouse; Spokane & Inland Empire, etc.)electric line that climbed southeast from about what is today the west end of Erie Street Yard, clinging to the basalt bluffs until it emerged onto the north edge of the Palouse. As mentioned earlier, the Palouse region is a goldmine of abd. (and existing) lines to explore.