Camas Prairie Railroad
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Camas Prairie Railroad Company was a short line railroad in northern
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
jointly owned and operated by
Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...
and
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
. Parts of the former railroad are now operated by the Great Northwest Railroad and the BG&CM Railroad.


History

The
Nez Perce Indian Reservation The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region ha ...
was opened to White settlement in By the turn of the 20th century,
Edward H. Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead (village), New York, Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harri ...
and James J. Hill were engaged in a "railroad war" for control of rail routes through this area to reach the Despite their competing interests, the railroad barons co-operated to build the Camas Prairie Railroad. The CSP was built to tap the rolling, fertile hills of the
Camas Prairie Camas prairies are found in several different geographical areas in the western United States, and are named for the native perennial camas ('' Camassia''). The culturally and scientifically significant of these areas lie within Idaho and Montana. ...
and the timber of the forested hills and canyonlands of the } Service to the south terminus of the second subdivision line at Grangeville commenced in and continued for 92 years.


Features

The Camas Prairie Railroad was known as the "railroad on stilts" due to the many wooden trestles along its route. In one stretch, there were more than a dozen trestles, and along the entire length of the second subdivision, the line passes over 45 bridges and seven tunnels (though one bridge has since burned down and tunnel #2 was long ago day-lighted). The sub-division's largest timber trestles and all 7 tunnels are between Culdesac and Reubens, where the line continues up Lapwai Creek Canyon then loops back north and finally climbs out through Rock Creek canyon, a ascent at a 3% grade. Among the line's notable features are the curved timber-frame trestle Bridge 22, known as "Half-moon Trestle". This bridge, partially visible from
U.S. Route 95 U.S. Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway System, United States Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland ...
, has a length of and is high, and was built with almost 1 million board-feet of lumber. Tunnel 1, called "horeshoe tunnel", bends at such an angle that neither end can be seen from the middle. This tunnel, and several others are either timber-framed or have timber-framed entrances. In addition to its wooden trestles, the railroad's second subdivision also had a sizable steel viaduct, in length with a maximum height of . Known as Bridge 38 (), it spans Lawyer's Canyon between Craigmont and
Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...
, and is also visible from U.S. 95.


Nezperce & Idaho Railroad

The Nezperce & Idaho Railroad (reporting mark NP&I) was an independently owned short line railroad that connected the community of Nezperce to the Camas Prairie Railroad. Primarily used to ship agricultural products it operated from 1910 until 1975, it was then used for boxcar storage until the 1980s.


Demise

The railroad was sold to
North American RailNet North American RailNet, Inc., based in Bedford, Texas, was a holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company u ...
in April 1998, and it became the subsidiary Camas Prairie RailNet, Inc. (CSPR). After less than two years, CSPR notified the U.S. government in late 1999 that the second subdivision line to Grangeville could be subject to abandonment, citing lack of profitability. It made its formal request in May, and it was approved by the
Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is an independent federal agency that serves as an adjudicatory board. The board was created in 1996 following the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and absorbed regula ...
in September 2000; the last run to Fenn and Grangeville was on The tracks were to be removed shortly thereafter, but that was delayed as a new operator for the line was sought. When BG&CM stepped in to operate the second subdivision line in December 2002, it was originally only to extend from Spalding to Craigmont, but a few weeks later decided to continue south, across Lawyer's Canyon to Cottonwood, stopping the salvage crews from going further north. The tracks from Cottonwood to Grangeville were removed and salvaged in late 2002 and 2003. North American RailNet sold the remainder of the railroad to
Watco Watco Companies, L.L.C. (Watco) Watco is an American transportation and logistics company based in Pittsburg, Kansas. The company’s core services are freight transportation, material handling and storage, logistics, railcar repair and maintena ...
in March 2004, which renamed it the Great Northwest Railroad. In 2011, Bridge 21-3 was destroyed in a wildfire. Although BG&CM owner Mike Williams indicated plans to rebuild by spring of 2012 at the latest, no construction has occurred. By 2021 the tracks had been removed all the way from Grangeville to Ruebens.


Second subdivision

All locations in north central Idaho Source:


Passenger service

Passenger service on the main line along the Clearwater River to Stites and on the second subdivision to Grangeville was discontinued in August 1955.


Popular culture

The
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
film '' Breakheart Pass'' starring
Charles Bronson Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in ...
was filmed on portions of the railroad, as were parts of
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
's '' Wild Wild West.''


References

*


External links


American-rails.com
– Camas Prairie Railroad

*
Preservation Idaho
– Camas Prairie Railroad

– Hal Riegger CPRR Collection {{Coord, 46.24, -116.47, display=t, type:landmark Defunct Idaho railroads Defunct Washington (state) railroads Historic American Engineering Record in Idaho Spin-offs of the Northern Pacific Railway Spin-offs of the Union Pacific Railroad Transportation in Nez Perce County, Idaho Transportation in Lewis County, Idaho Transportation in Idaho County, Idaho