Western Railroad Discussion > Heritage of lines in Colfax, WA.

Can anyone tell me the heritage of the rail line(s) that run through Colfax, Wa. and their current status. Any history or pictures would be appreciated.

Thanks

Wrong answer, I should look into this:

Think those would be ex-GN and split off from the BN. This site is always good for GN stuff: http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/ There is also a GN Historical Society and a GN Yahoo Group.

The early heritage of the roads in Colfax, WA are:

Spokane Coeur d' Alene & Palouse Ry (GN)
Oregon Washington Railroad & Navigation (UP)

Wish you had posted sooner, after looking at a map it could easily have been NP, I was thinking of the branches to the north. I should go back and check on that one, always been fuzzy around Walla Walla.


SD9E Wrote:
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> The early heritage of the roads in Colfax, WA
> are:
>

My second guess was these guys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camas_Prairie_Railroad who don't even go into Colfax.
Not my day to buy Lotto tickets. Sorry for the confusion.

The Spokane Coeur D'Alene & Palouse (GN) line to Colfax was originally under 6600 Volt AC electrification.

SD9E Wrote:
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> The Spokane Coeur D'Alene & Palouse (GN) line to
> Colfax was originally under 6600 Volt AC
> electrification.

Now that is interesting! Is that the line that came in from the north? When was the electrification removed? I've been looking on Google Earth and I see that there is "Y" at the north end of town with lines from the north, west and southeast. I would have guessed it to be Camas Prairie too.

I'm looking at a SPV map (page 52, Pacific Northwest Atlas) and it shows railroads in four directions.

1. Going west from Colfax are the locations of Crest, Mockonema, Diamond, Thera, Endicott.

2. Going north from Colfax are the locations of Lincoln, Manning, Rye, Blackwell, Steptoe, Bankson, Lynn, Cashup, Barnes, Thomas.

3. Going east from Colfax are the locations of Glenwood, Elberton, Garfield.

4. Going south from Colfax are the locations of Risbeck, Parvin, Shwness, Albion, Armstrong, Pullman.

West and south are shown as active and are the Plalouse River Railroad. Formerly the Oregon Washington Railroad & Navigation.

North is no longer a railroad. Was the Burlington Northern. Formerly Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad, electric, later the Spokane Coeur D'Alene & Palouse Railway.

East is no longer a railroad. Was the Union Pacific. Formerly the Oregon Washington Railroad & Navigation.

jb

Edit: A DeLorme Washington Atlas & Gazetteer shows the same as described above.

I believe the line running south/east to Pullman is the only line running now (new railway called WIR?). The line west to the UP connection at Hooper had a trestle fire a couple of years ago and has not been repaired. The PCC (Watco) no longer operates the palouse lines and the state of Washington actually owns the trackage.

Here a couple images taken in Colfax during a down pour on June 27, 2005.

1. Depot and PCC GP30 #3004.
2. Closer view of #3004 and the yard tracks.

I have more photos taken in Colfax over the years but I will need to find them.

JMW
http://www.waidephoto.com

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I am not entirely sure when electrification ended, but, I seem to recall between World War I and II.

Here are a couple of maps that may help.

1. Union Pacific lines before 1900. Taken from Hal Riegger's "The Camas Prairie, Idaho's Railroad on Stilts", Pacific Fast Mail 1986.

2. Great Northern system map off the net.

JMW

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Colfax was part of the UP's Moscow and Tekoa branches.

1 & 2. UPRR system timetable #9 October 25, 1992.

JMW

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