The Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway is a short-line

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each s ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, described as "a single-track standard gauge steam railroad" that runs between

Bovill, Idaho Bovill is a city in Latah County, Idaho, United States. The population was 260 at the 2010 census, down from 305 in 2000.Palouse, Washington Palouse is a city in Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 998 at the 2010 census. History Palouse was first settled in 1869 by William Ewing. The townsite was founded in 1875 by W.P. Breeding. Palouse is named for t ...

. Construction began in May 1905 by the

Potlatch Lumber Company PotlatchDeltic Corporation (originally Potlatch Corp) is an American diversified forest products company based in Spokane, Washington. It manufactures and sells lumber, panels and particleboard and receives revenue from other assets such as mine ...

as a

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

railroad, but it also carried other freight, passengers, and mail. By the end of that year, of track had been laid, and by the end of 1906, the track reached Bovill. with Although the railway was to extend into Montana, these plans were abandoned, for two main reasons. The first was a 1910 forest fire along the North Fork of the Clearwater River, which destroyed valuable timber and the second was an agreement between Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound railway (which operated into Montana) and the Washington, Idaho & Montana railway for joint use of tracks at Bovill and a division of rates. Engine 1 of the railroad and a railroad depot is preserved in the Commercial Historic District of

Potlatch, Idaho Potlatch is a city in the northwest United States, located in north central Idaho in Latah County, about east of the border with Washington. On the Palouse north of Moscow, it is served by State Highway 6, and bordered on the northeast by the sm ...

, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

History of rail transportation in the United States Rail transportation in Idaho Rail transportation in Montana Rail transportation in Washington (state) Rail transportation on the National Register of Historic Places Regional railroads in the United States Defunct Idaho railroads {{US-rail-transport-stub