dcjb Wrote:
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> Was in Moscow, Idaho and Pullman and Palouse,
> Wash. over the weekend. Anyone have a rundown on
> operations? Trains serving Palouse come out of
> Spokane or where? Pullman looks like 3 times a
> week track, but why? There is no business there,
> and nothing in Moscow either (except seasonally).
> How often do trains go to Palouse and on to
> Potlatch? Does the train no longer go thru to
> Bovill?
> Now that the south line out of Colfax is gone, is
> Colfax only served from the west?

Ok, lots of questions here, lets run this down one at a time.

>Trains serving Palouse come out of Spokane or where?
Palouse is located on the Washington & Idaho Railway (reporting marks WIR). They interchange with BNSF in Marshall WA, and run the old NP P&L branch. Spangle-Plaza-Oakesdale-Garfield-Palouse-Pullman-Moscow, with a branch Palouse-Potlatch ID/Harvard ID. Another branch, from Pullman to Colfax, the tracks are used for storage cars due to a burned out bridge a mile east of Colfax that has yet to be replaced.

>Anyone have a rundown on operations?
They run when needed, as needed, no set schedule.

>Pullman looks like 3 times a week track, but why? There is no business there, and nothing in Moscow either (except seasonally).
It just so happens that you chose to visit while the W&I has been rearranging storage cars on the Colfax-Pullman line. Some have been pulled out, and some new ones have gone in. Traffic to Moscow serves a fertilizer distributor, that mostly receives loads in spring and fall, though occasionally receives loads at other times. Normally, Pullman/Moscow doesn’t see any traffic in the summer.

>How often do trains go to Palouse and on to Potlatch?
Weekly, and often more than once a week. The lumber mill near Potlatch does pretty good business, though it varies.

>Does the train no longer go thru to Bovill?
The track no longer goes through to Bovill, (removed in 2002 I think). The track ends shortly after the siding in Harvard ID.

>Now that the south line out of Colfax is gone, is Colfax only served from the west?
Correct. The track to Pullman (south as you call it) is still in place, but the burned out bridge and highway 195 grade crossing in Colfax would need to be replaced first. That is up to the state of Washington to do since they own the line. The state has expressed a desire to have the line open, but so far has not put forth money to do repairs and upgrades. So for now, Colfax is served by the PCC (WATCO) from the west, though the PCC rarely runs to Colfax. The farthest they go on a regular basis is Endicott WA.


Matt F
Moscow ID