As a continuation of the previous photo I posted, here's a scene taken on September 06, 2000, TWENTY-THREE years ago, of a 25-car WATCO Blue Mountain Railroad grain train coming off the ex-UP Pleasant Valley Branch. The train is at Winona, WA where it has joined the ex-UP Tekoa Branch and will eventually make its way to a connection with the UP at Hooper Junction, WA. The railroad now operates under the name Palouse River & Coulee City.

Up until the some time in 1956 or 1957, the UP operated a passenger train through Winona in the form of a mostly overnight service that linked Portland, OR with Pullman, WA and Moscow, ID. In the July 1954 schedule, eastbound Train 62 called at Winona at 0654 hours while westbound Train 61 called at 2039 hours. Here's an interesting web page that shows the extensive service that UP offered in this part of the Northwest with "The Spokane", leaving Portland, OR to its namesake city, but also with sections of it splitting off for Yakima, Lewiston and Moscow. Meanwhile, the Northern Pacific got into the picture by running a RDC service from Spokane, WA to Lewiston, ID. Thus, a prospective mileage collector could have taken the UP Portland-Moscow train, the NP Budd car over a very scenic line between Moscow and Lewiston, and then another UP train from Lewiston back to Portland, or to Spokane by changing trains at Ayer Junction.

The service to Yakima disappeared first, followed by the train to Moscow, then the one to Lewiston and then the one to Spokane.

We didn't appreciate what we had until it was gone.

[www.streamlinerschedules.com]