The Washington and Idaho Railway was a

shortline railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

that operated in the area south of

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...

, connecting the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

at Marshall to

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 ...

, Harvard, Idaho, and

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Universit ...

. It began operations in 2006 on ex-

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, wh ...

and Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway trackage formerly operated by the

Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primar ...

, which had acquired it from the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadi ...

in 1996. The railroad ceased operations in 2019 as a new operator gained control of the line.

History

The Spokane and Palouse Railway, a predecessor of the

(NP), completed a line from the NP's main line at Marshall south to

Genesee, Idaho Genesee is a city in Latah County, Idaho, United States. The population was 955 at the 2010 census, up from 946 in 2000.

in 1888, and a branch from Pullman to

Juliaetta, Idaho Juliaetta is a city in Latah County, Idaho, United States. The population was 579 at the 2010 census. History The area was originally called Schupferville for Rupert Schupfer, an original homesteader in the area. The town was named in 1882 by th ...

in 1891 (extended to Lewiston by the NP in 1898). The Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway (WI&M) finished its line in 1907, extending east from Palouse to Purdue, Idaho. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) gained control of the WI&M in 1962, and sold the property to the

(BN), successor to the NP, in 1980. The BN sold the lines from Marshall to Arrow, Idaho and Palouse to

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 River and Coulee City Railroad The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, primar ...

(PCC), which began operations in September 1996. It subsequently abandoned the ends from Harvard to Bovill and Moscow to Arrow, and in September 2006 the Washington and Idaho Railway began operating the remainder under contract. The

Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...

bought the trackage within that state in June 2007, and kept the Washington and Idaho Railway as the operator. It also has access to an ex-

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

line west from Pullman to Risbeck (also formerly owned by the PCC) for railcar storage.

Palouse River and Coulee City RR – Acquisition and Rehabilitation – Project Map
accessed February 2009 In mid 2019, the WIR ceased operations as the contract was up for the state owned lines. A new operator took over in August 2019 and is called the Spokane, Spangle & Palouse Railway (SSP).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington Idaho Railway Washington (state) railroads Defunct Idaho railroads Idaho railroads Railway companies established in 2006