The Boise Valley Railroad( reporting mark BVRR) is a shortline railroad in Idaho connecting Nampa with Boise and Wilder. It is owned and operated by Watco.
On 23 November 2009, the railroad began operations, running over an 11 miles (18 kilometres) line between Wilder and Caldwell and a 25-mile(40 km) line between Nampa and Boise, with the two lines connected via trackage rights on the Union Pacific. [1] Watco purchased the line from Idaho Northern & Pacific Railroad. Watco took over operations and leased the line to Union Pacific. Operations for both branches are based at Nampa Yard in Nampa where cars are interchanged to the Union Pacific.
As of August 2015, the railroad served around 60 clients and operated once a day on each weekday. [2]
The Wilder Branch begins at Caldwell and goes west to Wilder and switches several packing houses. The branch is 11 miles long.
The 25 mile Boise Branch goes from Nampa to Boise Airport and is Union Pacific's former main line into Boise. The City of Boise closed the Boise Yard in 1989 but kept the branch active until 1996 when the eastern half was abandoned with the cessation of Amtrak's Pioneer . BVRR also switches the Nampa Industrial Lead which comes off the Boise Branch at Nampa Junction and goes out to Amalgamated Sugar Company at the end of the branch. [3]
Idaho is a landlocked state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington and Oregon to the west; it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border to the north, with the province of British Columbia. The state's capital and largest city is Boise. With an area of 83,569 square miles (216,440 km2), Idaho is the 14th largest state by land area. With a population of approximately 1.8 million, it ranks as the 13th least populous and the 7th least densely populated of the 50 U.S. states.
Boise ( BOY-see, is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,684 people residing in the city. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles east of the Oregon border and 110 miles north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's elevation is 2,704 feet above sea level.
Owyhee County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,913. The county seat is Murphy, and its largest city is Homedale. In area it is the second-largest county in Idaho, behind Idaho County.
Canyon County is located in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 231,105, which by 2022 was estimated to have risen to 251,065. making it the second-most populous county in Idaho. The county seat is Caldwell, and its largest city is Nampa. Canyon County is part of the Boise metropolitan area.
Meridian is a city located in Ada County, Idaho, United States. The population was 117,635 at the 2020 census, making it the 2nd most populous city in the county and Idaho after Boise, the state capital. Meridian is considered the state's fastest-growing city and among the fastest-growing cities in the United States.
Caldwell is a city in and the county seat of Canyon County, Idaho. The population was 59,996 at the time of the 2020 United States census, making it the 5th most populous city in Idaho.
Nampa is the most populous city in Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 100,200 at the 2020 census. It is Idaho's 3rd most populous city. Nampa is about 20 miles (32 km) west of Boise along Interstate 84, and 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Meridian. It is the second principal city of the Boise metropolitan area. The name "Nampa" may have come from a Shoshoni word meaning either 'moccasin' or 'footprint'. According to toponymist William O. Bright the name comes from the Shoshoni word /nampai/, meaning "foot".
Nyssa is a city in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. The population was 3,267 at the 2010 census. The city is located along the Snake River on the Idaho border, in the region of far eastern Oregon known as the "Treasure Valley". It is part of the Ontario, OR–ID Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The Boise, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is an area that encompasses Ada, Boise, Canyon, Gem, and Owyhee counties in southwestern Idaho, anchored by the cities of Boise and Nampa. It is the main component of the wider Boise–Mountain Home–Ontario, ID–OR Combined Statistical Area, which adds Elmore and Payette counties in Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon. It is the state's largest officially designated metropolitan area and includes Idaho's three largest cities: Boise, Nampa, and Meridian. Nearly 40 percent of Idaho's total population lives in the area.
The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad is a Class II regional railroad in Southern Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois currently operated by Watco. It operates former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW) trackage, mostly acquired by the state of Wisconsin in the 1980s.
Murphy is a census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Owyhee County, Idaho, United States. It is among the smallest of county seats nationwide, with a population as of the 2020 census of 96. Murphy is part of the Boise City–Nampa, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. Murphy is also located within the census-designated place bearing its name. Murphy is home to the Owyhee County Historical Museum and Library.
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 maintenance.
The California Northern Railroad is one of several Class III short-line railroad companies owned by Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. It operates over Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) tracks under a long-term lease.
The Eastern Idaho Railroad commenced on November 21, 1993, as a collection of two disconnected clusters of former Union Pacific (UP) branches. A subsidiary of Watco, EIRR operates two segments that move more than 35,000 carloads per year to the Union Pacific, with interchanges at Idaho Falls on the Northern Segment, and Minidoka on the Southern segment. The annual income is reported as being under 25 million dollars. Potatoes are a major commodity carried, using a unique loading technology to minimize damage during transit.
The Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad is a small railroad in southwestern Idaho and eastern Oregon in the United States. It owns 120 miles (190 km) of former Union Pacific Railroad branch lines, and is a subsidiary of the Rio Grande Pacific Corp., based in Fort Worth, Texas. Idaho Northern and Pacific's offices are in Emmett, Idaho.
The BG&CM Railroad or Bountiful Grain and Craig Mountain Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad located in North Central Idaho.
The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a rail and steamboat transport company that operated a rail network of 1,143 miles (1,839 km) running east from Portland, Oregon, United States, to northeastern Oregon, northeastern Washington, and northern Idaho. It operated from 1896 as a consolidation of several smaller railroads.
Interstate 84 (I-84) in the U.S. state of Idaho is a major Interstate Highway that traverses the state from the Oregon state line in the northwest to Utah state line in the southeast. It primarily follows the Snake River across a plain that includes the cities of Boise, Mountain Home, and Twin Falls. The highway is one of the busiest in Idaho and is designated as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway.
Valley Regional Transit is a public agency which is the main provider of mass transit service in metropolitan Boise, Idaho. It operates 19 fixed-route services, mostly in Ada County, as well as two on-demand services in Canyon County and the city of Eagle.
The Great Northwest Railroad (GRNW) is located in North Central Idaho, and runs a mainline of approximately 77 miles (124 km). Known as the Camas Prairie Railroad until 1998 and then Camas Prairie Railnet, Watco purchased the line in 2004 and renamed it the GRNW.