Nostalgia & History > SP&S Route Question

Did the route between Pasco and Spokane connect with the NP line at Cheney ?

Pioneer2526 Wrote:
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> Did the route between Pasco and Spokane connect
> with the NP line at Cheney ?

No

TAW

Where did it run past cheney then ?? Thanks in advance

SP&S route is south of Cheney.  Most is preserved as a trail which you can follow from South Cheney to Fish Lake.

Pioneer2526 Wrote:
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> Where did it run past cheney then ?? Thanks in
> advance

SP&S and UP under NP about 3 miles west of NP Cheney

TAW

SP&S and NP lines connected at Scribner/Marshall, north of Cheney.

Best regards,

Rob L.

THANKS ! I have ridden Builder to Spokane dozens of times, and I have always wondered that. I do remember Amtrak detouring on that route occasionaly before they tore the tracks up. 1986 ?

​Dennis

Actually in the 1970's the Builder used the SP&S route eastbound all the time, and the NP route westbound, between Pasco and Spokane.  I rode the SP&S many times in that time frame.  I do remember once, though, in 1977 or so, we got about half way from Pasco to Spokane on the SP&S when we suddenly came to a stop.  A freight train ahead of us had derailed.  So we backed up to a siding, the power ran around the train, and we reversed back to Pasco, then proceeded from Pasco to Spokane on the NP route.

From Amtrak start-up through all of 1971, the Builder ran both ways on the ex-NP. It switched to directional running sometime after that.

Best regards,

Rob L.

czephyr17 Wrote:
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> Actually in the 1970's the Builder used the SP&S
> route eastbound all the time, and the NP route
> westbound, between Pasco and Spokane.  I rode the
> SP&S many times in that time frame.  I do
> remember once, though, in 1977 or so, we got about
> half way from Pasco to Spokane on the SP&S when we
> suddenly came to a stop.  A freight train ahead
> of us had derailed.  So we backed up to a siding,
> the power ran around the train, and we reversed
> back to Pasco, then proceeded from Pasco to
> Spokane on the NP route.

thanks again for all the info, so did the North Coast Hiawatha run the GN route SEA-SPK.? prior to 79?

Yes, the North Coast Hiawatha ran on the former GN route from Seattle to Spokane via Wenatchee, before taking the southern Montana routing.

Pioneer2526 Wrote:
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> ... so did the North Coast Hiawatha run
> the GN route SEA-SPK.? prior to 79?

Yes, it did.  I held a regular assignment on it firing out of Spokane to Wenatchee and return in early '76.

TAW Wrote:
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> Pioneer2526 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Where did it run past cheney then ?? Thanks in
> > advance
>
> SP&S and UP under NP about 3 miles west of NP
> Cheney
>
> TAW


I think Thomas meant to say just northeast of Cheney.  Here's the separated grade crossings noted on a map.

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