Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Marshall, Washington |
Reporting mark | WIR |
Locale | Washington and Idaho |
Dates of operation | 2006–2019 |
Predecessor | Spokane, Spangle & Palouse RR |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Washington and Idaho Railway( reporting mark WIR) 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 Spokane and Palouse Railway, a predecessor of the Northern Pacific Railway (NP), completed a line from the NP's main line at Marshall south to Genesee, Idaho in 1888, and a branch from Pullman to Juliaetta, Idaho in 1891 (extended to Lewiston by the NP in 1898). [1] The Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway (WI&M) finished its line in 1907, extending east from Palouse to Purdue, Idaho. [2] The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) gained control of the WI&M in 1962, and sold the property to the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN), successor to the NP, in 1980. [3] The BN sold the lines from Marshall to Arrow, Idaho and Palouse to Bovill, Idaho to the newly created Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad (PCC), [4] which began operations in September 1996. [5] 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. [6] The Washington State Department of Transportation bought the trackage within that state in June 2007, and kept the Washington and Idaho Railway as the operator. [7] It also has access to an ex-Union Pacific Railroad line west from Pullman to Risbeck (also formerly owned by the PCC) for railcar storage. [8]
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).[ citation needed ]
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, 32,500 miles (52,300 km) of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide rail connections between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American 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.
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The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road", was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986.
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 40 million acres of land grants, which it used to raise money in Europe for construction.
The North Coast Limited was a named passenger train operated by the Northern Pacific Railway between Chicago and Seattle via Bismarck, North Dakota. It started on April 29, 1900, and continued as a Burlington Northern Railroad train after the merger on March 2, 1970 with Great Northern Railway and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The next year, it ceased operations after the trains which left their originating stations on April 30, 1971, the day before Amtrak began service, arrived at their destinations.
Montana Rail Link is a privately held Class II railroad in the United States. It operates on trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway and leased from its successor BNSF. MRL is a unit of The Washington Companies and is headquartered in Missoula, Montana.
Watco Companies, L.L.C. (Watco) is a transportation company based in Pittsburg, Kansas, formed in 1983 by Charles R. Webb. Watco was composed of four divisions: transportation, mechanical, terminal and port services, and compliance. Watco is the owner of Watco Transportation Services, L.L.C. (WTS), which operates 41 short line railroads in the U.S. and Australia. It is one of the largest short line railroad companies in the United States. As of December 2018, it operates on 5,500 miles (8,900 km) of leased and owned track. Also under transportation is the contract switching the company provides service for 30 customers. That was the service that Watco originally offered before it branched out into other areas.
The Northern Transcon, a route operated by the BNSF Railway, traverses the most northerly route of any railroad in the western United States. This route was originally part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, Northern Pacific Railway, Great Northern Railway and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway systems, merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad system in 1970.
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Rail transportation is an important element of the transportation network in the U.S. state of Oregon. Rail transportation has existed in Oregon in some form since 1855, and the state was a pioneer in development of electric railway systems. While the automobile has displaced many uses of rail in the state, rail remains a key means of moving passengers and freight, both within the state and to points beyond its borders.
The Yellowstone Valley Railroad is a 171-mile (275 km) shortline railroad in northeastern Montana, also crossing into North Dakota. It operates two branch lines leased from the BNSF Railway in 2005 - Snowden to Glendive and Bainville to Scobey - connected by trackage rights over BNSF's Northern Transcon between Snowden and Bainville.
Western Rail Switching was a switching and terminal railroad, operating a line west of Spokane, Washington.
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The Lake Creek and Coeur d'Alene Railroad built a 14.18-mile (22.82 km) rail line between Manito, Washington and Amwaco, Idaho. It was incorporated on July 26, 1906, in Oregon, and completed the line on June 12, 1910. From opening, the company's line, and a steamboat it had acquired, were leased to the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N). The OR&N was already operating a line through Manito to Spokane, and at Amwaco it used the steamboat to cross Lake Coeur d'Alene to Harrison, which was located on another ex-Washington and Idaho Railroad line to Wallace. The combined railroad and steamboat line thus formed a shorter route between Spokane and Wallace than the all-rail route via Tekoa, and helped the OR&N successfully compete with the electric interurban Coeur d'Alene and Spokane Railway and its steamboat connection.
The Columbia River and Oregon Central Railroad built a branch of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) from that company's main line at Arlington south to Condon, Oregon, United States. The company was incorporated on August 22, 1903, and finished construction in 1905. A predecessor, Oregon Southern Railway, made surveys and acquired right-of-way, but did not begin construction. Always operated by the OR&N, the property of the Columbia River and Oregon Central Railroad, along with that of the OR&N, was sold to new Union Pacific Railroad (UP) subsidiary Oregon–Washington Railroad and Navigation Company on December 23, 1910. The Condon, Kinzua and Southern Railroad would complete a line from Condon to Kinzua in 1929.
The Washington Eastern Railroad is a shortline railroad located in Eastern Washington in the United States. It runs on the CW Branch built by the Northern Pacific Railway from 1889–1890 and was previously used by the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad until 2018. The WER was owned by The Western Group; on November 1, 2020, it was acquired by Jaguar Transport Holdings of Joplin, Missouri.