At the time they were built, the railroads were the life blood of many communities. I doubt the Camas Prairie region's lumber and grain industries would have developed anywhere close to the extent they did if it wern't for rail access. By the 1940s. highways and trucks would have finally opened the region if there hadn't been trains. But how many towns would have existed?

Unfortunately, the railroads that are dear to many of use due to their scenery and operating challenges are very expensive to operate for those same reasons. Converting them to a shortline isn't always the answer, because a shortline doesn't have the same resources as a large railroad, and even the efficiencies of a shortline operation may not offset the maintenance costs.

Wasn't the Camas Prairie's real downfall after the Army Corps of Engineers (with taxpayers' money) openend the rivers to navigation all the way to Clarkston/Lewiston? This added a whole new plater to the mix, since water transportation is far more cost efficient than even rail. Also consider that while a barge company might pay some fees, like trucks their route infastructure is maintained by we taxpayers. Compare that to the railroads who must pay property taxes on their right-of-way regardless if it is the mainline or a quiet branch.

There is a large abandoned grain elevator in Joseph, Oregon and a three others further down the valley. The last grain shipment was a few cars in 2005 from Wallowa. An operator tried to interest some of the active elevators to return to shipping by rail. They wouldn't consider it, because they had become used to shipping by truck to Lewiston. The highway between Joseph/Enterprise and Clarkston/Lewiston is pretty nasty, but the truck/barge service beat rail even if the rates were about the same.

Let's face it. Most (not all) of the big railroads only want to move unit trains, and eventually will only do it with one person in the cab. I think much of the haz-mat business will be lost due to Homeland Security regulations that will make rail transport impractical. Railroads will continue to sell off light traffic lines. I think parts of the shortline industry will fail, because the CLass 1's will not provide the connecting service or rates to support loose car traffic, unless there is some kind of limited re-regulation.

What do you do, if you are sold a shortline by a Class 1, then who restricts your interchange with connecting railroads? (This practice was finally prohibited only a few years ago, but only applies to new sales.) And - then steals your traffic through reloads or shuttle train facilities; and prevents you from conducting business in the most efficient manner? (Worked for companies that happened to.)

Be prepared - in 10 years we won't even recognize railroading compared to today!