(1.)I seem to recall that the UP's Wallace Branch sat dormant for several years because UP was worried about the potential clean up costs and liability problems due to silver and lead contamination if it was converted to a trail or other use. Supposedly there were a lot of deposits along the right-of-way from years of train operations and leaky gondola cars. I guess one day they just decided it was no longer a problem and the trail conversion project began.

(2.) Did anyone ever get any shots of trains on the Sierra Nevada Branch, an offshoot of the mainline near Kellogg? I remember reading the special instructions in the employee timetable about retainer use due to heavy grades.

(3.) Judging from special instruction writings in employee timetables, I believe the drawbridge at the south end of Lake Coeur d'alene had a bridge tender there into the 1970s or 80s. Talk about a lonely job!

(4.) Even though the UP passenger train disappeared in 1957, apparently unpublicized mixed service in a caboose lasted until April 30, 1971. A railfan friend of mine once told me an interesting story where he rode the train a few weeks before Amtrak began and the 30-day train off notices had been posted. At first, the conductor claimed that the train was NOT a mixed and the public could not ride. My friend challenged him on that, claiming that the thirty-day train off notice wouldn't have been posted unless it was, in fact, a mixed train offering the service. Reluctantly, the conductor let him ride and was mean and grumpy at the beginning of the trip. By the time they got to Spokane, his soft side emerged and the two became friends. They exchanged Christmas cards for several years.

(5.) Too bad there wasn't an active, progressive excursion operator back in the 60's and 70's. I always figured a "dream" three-day excursion could have been Spokane-Wallace (UP) Day 1; Wallace-Missoula (NP) Day 2; Missoula-Spokane (MILW) Day 3. In the book "Railroads Through The Coeur d'Alenes" there's a picture of a NP excursion in the 1950s with F-units sitting in Wallace. That must have been one helluva trip.

(6.) If anyone has some photos of the UP and NP (BN) operations into this region, please post them. They are few and far between and it's a fascinating area.