Rolland A. Meyers Wrote:
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> News of the end of an historic portion of this
> railroad are starting to surface. I have heard
> that the segment from Clarkia to Bovill, Idaho on
> the old Milwaukee Road Elk River Branch has been
> put out to bid to scrap. This portion has not
> been used in several years, but logs were hauled
> several times a week from the log landing at
> Clarkia downriver into the Potlatch mill in St
> Maries. Apparently this has now ceased and one of
> the last true logging railroads in the country is
> no longer hauling logs!! They continue their
> operation of hauling finished products from the
> mill to Plummer, Idaho on the old Milwaukee Road
> Mainline for interchange with the Union Pacific
> there.
>
> I have heard rumors, and at this point that is all
> they are as I have no substantiation, that the old
> original Milwaukee Road log flats used by the St
> Maries River Railroad may be scrapped. There are
> a few hundred of these up there and the majority
> of them still have the old friction bearings and
> are confined the that railroad because of age and
> lack of roller bearings.
>
> I just hope that the rails are not pulled from
> Clarkia to St Maries and that the shutdown of the
> log landing at Clarkia is a temporary event caused
> by the condition of the economy. But from those
> folks I have talked to it sounds as if this is not
> the case and we may see another part of railroad
> history go down memory lane!! Sad for railfans
> and also for the employees affected by this. <;>(
> Regards,
> Rolland A. Meyers