St. Maries River Railroad

Last updated
St. Maries River Railroad
Overview
Headquarters St. Maries, Idaho
Reporting mark STMA
Locale Idaho
Dates of operation1980
Predecessor Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The St. Maries River Railroad( reporting mark STMA) is a shortline Class III railroad that operates 71 miles of freight service in northern Idaho. From 1980 until 2010, it was a subsidiary of Potlatch Corp.

Contents

History and Trackage

The St. Maries River Railroad began service on May 23, 1980, over trackage that previously had been owned by the bankrupt (and now-defunct) Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, also known as the Milwaukee Road.

The St. Maries River operates between Plummer, Idaho and St. Maries, Idaho on what was the Milwaukee Road's Pacific Northwest main line across the Rockies. The railroad also operated on the Milwaukee Road's former Elk River branch line between St. Maries and Bovill, Idaho. [1]

For several years from 1980 until the mid-1980s, Potlatch also owned and operated 45 miles of adjoining former Milwaukee Road trackage, between St. Maries and Avery, Idaho, as a private logging railroad that connected with the St. Maries River Railroad. The federal government condemned the logging line between St. Maries and Avery in the mid-1980s, prompting its shutdown.

In 2010, Potlatch sold the St. Maries River Railroad for $1.6 million [2] to Mike Williams of the Missouri-based Williams Group, which owns other short line railroads in Idaho, Missouri and South Dakota, including the BG&CM Railroad. [3]

The St. Maries River Railroad connects with the Union Pacific Railroad at Plummer. The line to Bovill, ID is no longer in service as the connecting Washington and Idaho Railway line has been abandoned between Bovill and Harvard, ID.

Rolling Stock

The railroad operates three EMD GP9 locomotives numbered 101-103 and two SW1200 switchers numbered 501–502, all formerly owned by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. [4]

Locomotive modelRoad no.
EMD GP9 101
102
103
EMD SW1200 501
502

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milwaukee Road</span> Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States

The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road, was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milwaukee Road 261</span> Preserved American 4-8-4 locomotive

Milwaukee Road 261 is a class "S3" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady, New York in July 1944 for the Milwaukee Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soo Line Railroad</span> American class I railroad

The Soo Line Railroad is one of the primary United States railroad subsidiaries for the CPKC Railway, one of six U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (MStP&SSM), which was commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of that company with two other CPKC subsidiaries: The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway, and the Wisconsin Central Railway. It is also the successor to other Class I railroads, including the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. On the other hand, a large amount of mileage was spun off in 1987 to Wisconsin Central Ltd., now part of the Canadian National Railway. The Soo Line Railroad and the Delaware and Hudson Railway, CPKC's other major subsidiary, presently do business as the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). Most equipment has been repainted into the CP scheme, but the U.S. Surface Transportation Board groups all of the company's U.S. subsidiaries under the Soo Line name for reporting purposes. The Minneapolis headquarters are in the Canadian Pacific Plaza building, having moved from the nearby Soo Line Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin and Southern Railroad</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago and North Western Transportation Company</span> Rail transport company

The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over 12,000 miles (19,000 km) of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s. Until 1972, when the employees purchased the company, it was named the Chicago and North Western Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Trunk Western Railroad</span> American railroad

The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company was an American subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway, later of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding company, the Grand Trunk Corporation. Grand Trunk Western's routes are part of CN's Michigan Division. Its primary mainline between Chicago and Port Huron, Michigan serves as a connection between railroad interchanges in Chicago and rail lines in eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. The railroad's extensive trackage in Detroit and across southern Michigan has made it an essential link for the automotive industry as a hauler of parts and automobiles from manufacturing plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway</span>

The Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway was an 87-mile (140 km) long American shortline railroad connecting Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota. It was incorporated in 1918 to take over the trackage of the former Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company, also known as the Dan Patch Lines. On June 2, 1982, it was acquired by the Soo Line Railroad, which operated it as a separate railroad until merging it on January 1, 1986, along with the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joint railway</span>

A joint railway is a railway operating under the control of more than one railway company: those companies very often supplying the traction over the railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Louis Southwestern Railway</span> Defunct American railway

The St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company, known by its nickname of "The Cotton Belt Route" or simply "Cotton Belt", is a former Class I railroad that operated between St. Louis, Missouri, and various points in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas from 1891 to 1980, when the system added the Rock Island's Golden State Route and operations in Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The Cotton Belt operated as a Southern Pacific subsidiary from 1932 until 1992, when its operation was assumed by Southern Pacific Transportation Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum</span> Heritage railroad in Washington, U.S.

The Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad or MRSR, formerly the Mt. Rainier Railroad and Logging museum (MRRR), is a steam-powered heritage railroad operating in the U.S. state of Washington between Elbe and Mineral. The railroad travels on trackage that passes through thick forest just south of Mount Rainier. The depot, gift shop and ticket office are located in Elbe. The train travels to the Logging Museum exhibits located in Mineral. The MRRR ran its collection of vintage rail equipment over seven miles of track, part of Tacoma Rail's Mountain Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland and Western Railroad</span> Oregon Railroad

The Portland and Western Railroad is a 516-mile (830 km) Class II railroad serving the U.S. state of Oregon, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of shortline and regional railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming Inc. The PNWR includes a subsidiary, the Willamette and Pacific Railroad.

<i>Olympian Hiawatha</i> 1911–1961 passenger train from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest

The Olympian and its successor the Olympian Hiawatha were passenger trains operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest. The Olympian operated from 1911 to 1947 and was, along with its running mate the Columbian, the first all-steel train to operate in the Pacific Northwest. The streamlined Olympian Hiawatha operated from 1947 to 1961 and was one of several Milwaukee Road trains to carry the name "Hiawatha". The Olympian Hiawatha was designed by industrial designer Brooks Stevens and included the distinctive glassed-in "Skytop" observation-sleeping cars. It later featured full-length "Super Dome" cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avery, Idaho</span> Unincorporated community in the state of Idaho, United States

Avery is a small unincorporated community in the northwest United States, located in the St. Joe River Valley in Shoshone County, Idaho. Avery is located in the middle of the St. Joe District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, and is a tourist attraction in the Idaho Panhandle known for its wilderness and outdoor recreation. It is upstream and east of St. Maries, the county seat of Benewah County.

The Indiana Rail Road is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles (249 km). This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road's Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC/ICG line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham. INRD also owns a former Milwaukee Road line from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Burns City, Indiana, with trackage rights extending to Chicago, Illinois. INRD no longer serves Louisville, Kentucky, and the Port of Indiana on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana, through a haulage agreement with the Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC).

The 5-mile (8.0 km) Reader Railroad was a tourist-only railroad operating in Hot Springs, Arkansas from 1973 to 1991. As a 23-mile (37 km) common carrier prior to May 1973, it was the last all steam locomotive-powered, mixed train railroad operating in North America. It operated trackage in Ouachita County and Nevada County, Arkansas. The five mile tourist railroad operated until 1991, when it could not meet the new federal safety regulations.

The Washington and Idaho Railway was a shortline railroad that operated in the area south of Spokane, Washington, connecting the BNSF Railway at Marshall to Palouse, Washington, Harvard, Idaho, and Moscow, Idaho. It began operations in 2006 on ex-Northern Pacific Railway and Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway trackage formerly operated by the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad, which had acquired it from the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1996. The railroad ceased operations in 2019 as a new operator gained control of the line.

The Chehalis Western Railroad was the name of two different shortline railroads that were owned and operated by Weyerhaeuser in Washington state between 1936 and 1993. The first Chehalis Western, which existed from 1936 until 1975, was a shortline Class III railroad, while the second one, which existed from 1981 until 1993, was a private railroad that operated on a different set of lines that Weyerhaeuser had later acquired.

The St. Paul Pass Tunnel was a railway tunnel in the northwest United States at St. Paul Pass, on the Montana-Idaho border. The tunnel was on the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, commonly known as "The Milwaukee Road."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway</span>

The Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway is a short-line railroad in the northwest United States, described as "a single-track standard gauge steam railroad" that runs between Bovill, Idaho and Palouse, Washington. Construction began 118 years ago in May 1905 by the Potlatch Lumber Company as a logging railroad, but it also carried other freight, passengers, and mail. By the end of that year, twenty miles (32 km) of track had been laid, and by the end of 1906, the track reached Bovill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D&I Railroad</span> Class III shortline railroad in South Dakota

The D&I Railroad (DAIR) is a Class III shortline railroad which is a wholly owned subsidiary of L. G. Everist, Inc. The line hauls ethanol, dried distillers grains (DDG), corn oil, plastic pellets, cement, sand, gravel, and Sioux Quartzite, which is mined from two large quarries in Dell Rapids.

References

  1. Lewis, Edward A. (1996). American Short Line Railway Guide. Kalmbach Books. p. 272.
  2. "Untitled Page".
  3. Walker, Brian (April 17, 2010). "Railroad buyer eyes expansion; River railroad short line is latest sale by Potlatch". CDAPress.com.
  4. "STMA - St. Maries River Railroad Company Locomotive Roster - Railroad Picture Archives.NET".