If the rails have been lifted, it's been pretty recent. I went through Cascade/Banks on 12/27/2011. At that time the rails were still in place all the way to Cascade. The crossing signal lights on highway 55 in Cascade had been turned away from the highway, but the track and signals were still there. The only section of track missing is a very short (50 or so yards) section just north of Banks, south of the Payette River bridge where a large rock slide took out the track. At that spot, the rails had been removed to clear the slide. The interesting thing is, the ROW had been graded flat, and there were enough new ties, relay rail and spikes ect. present to rebuild the missing section of track. However, it's been sitting empty ready to rebuild for quite a while now, I want to say two or three years.
The only other thing I know is that there had been some problems with a tunnel between Smiths Ferry and Banks that had caused the RR to suspend service between those two towns. However, when that first happened, the only train affected was the one that goes from Horseshoe Bend to Cascade, the train from Cascade to Smiths Ferry was still running. I had called the RR and asked about it, I was told that the insurance company was allowing equipment but not passengers through the tunnel. I don't know the reason for the RR ending the Cascade to Smiths Ferry run, I suspect that lite patronage of the run + the prospect of having to rebuild the tunnel was getting a little steep in price. I think the final nail in the coffin though was the rock slide north of Banks.
Matt F
Moscow ID