Western Railroad Discussion > Boise, ID

I'll be in Boise, ID next Thursday, May 29th through Monday, June 2. I won't have much time to railfan, but definitely want to get out and see what Boise has to offer. Being from the east coast, all I know about Boise is that UP runs through it (at least I think it does). I will have a rental car, so I can get out, just not too far away. Any good places to go?

Kepp me posted to what you find up there, as I will be relocating there soon.. Would like to know some hotspots to railfan as well..

Mike Keithly
Kimball, NE

Idaho Northern Pacific works the old UP Passenger main. UP main runs around town to Nampa. INP interchanges on the west side of Boise if I remember right.

Stay at the Sleep Inn in Nampa. It is (or was) the lodging for UP crews. 2nd floor has a room with computers and crew info (just peeked in one time I stayed there a couple of years ago). If you're friendly, you might chat with some of the crews.

Not much activity in Boise, but I don't think there ever was to begin with. Best bet would be to head down to Nampa. UP's Granger-Portland mainline goes through there. It's also a crew change point with a yard. You probably would be able to see at least 10-15 trains in daylight.

Go to the Glenns Ferry area--it is about one hour southeast on I-84. This the stretch of the UP mainline that leaves the high desert plateau and descends a 2% grade down into the Snake River Canyon. The hill is called Medbury Hill, photographed in depth by Henry Griffiths during the steam and early diesel era (lots of 4-12-2s, 4-6-6-4s, 2-8-8-0s, 2-10-2s, ABBA F3s, etc.). Get off the I-84 at Mountain Home and take old US 30 that follows the tracks to Reverse (where they wyed the helpers). Follow the road down the hill to Hammett. There are several outstanding photo opportunities between Reverse and Hammett (curves, cuts, and views of the canyon in the background; see Griffiths's photos).

From Hammett to Glenns Ferry, follow the old US 30 along the tracks and the Snake River. There are numerous photo opportunities here also. Glenns Ferry used to be a major engine terminal, and now all that you see are long lines of stored freight cars and a helper set. Last summer, it was a two unit set of AC44s, and they were using them as manned helpers for both west and eastbounds. It might be all DPUs by now. East of Glenns Ferry along the river to King Hill are numerous photo opportunities, particularly near the old ballast mine. East of the village of King Hill is a long 2% grade known as King Hill.

This area is classic old-style pre-merger original UP (Oregon Short Line), with lots of desert scenery, canyons, the river, and sagebrush, and trains.

Another area not too far from Boise is the Blue Mountains in Eastern Oregon. It all begins at Huntington, Oregon, about 1.5 hrs west of Boise on I-84. There is a long curvy westbound grade out of Huntington that parallels much of the intact old US 30. This grade includes the notorious horseshoe shaped Oxman curve. There are numerous photo opportunities (such as Pleasant Valley and at Encina) and lot of trains. Since it is mostly single track, and trains run slow; there are lots of meets. The heavy grain trains usually have 4 AC44s up front and 4 more midtrain. If you have a full day, you can go further west to the hill at Telocaset between Baker City and Lagrande, and the long grades between Lagrande and Pendleton. You can see all the Blue Mountains in a day-long car trip out of Boise.

If you have very little time, you can drive ~7 miles south of the airport in Boise on Pleasant Valley Road and wait by the mainline to see trains fly by on the open desert with mountains in the distance both south and north.

3985 is giving you the straight dope. When I worked in Lewsiton, Id - I would get down to Boise every once in a while and would head east as fast as I could. The area around Mountain Home and Reverse is really great for photography.

Also, take a drive past the Motive Power plant in East Boise. It is located on Apple St. off of Federal Way. They always have a nice collection of new engines out of the shop and a few odd ball older engines laying around.

Besides the UP mainline action that I described in my earlier e-mail, there is lots of other stuff around Boise, such as the branchlines. The Idaho Northern line up to Cascade is fascinating and scenic, although only used for tourist trains now. Imagine the multiple Harriman 2-8-0s and 3 unit sets of F3s/F9ams or GP9s struggling with long log trains. It is a pretty drive also.

In Boise, be sure to see the UP Passenger Station and the #2295 2-8-2 recently moved there. East of town is Motive Power Industries, the current US leader in construction of commuter diesels, a rapidly growing business. Also, they do a lot of repair work, so you never know what you are going to see there.

The branchlines are run by the Idaho Northern, and their trains originate in Nampa yard. Nampa is interesting because that where they add and remove the DPU units for the Blue Mountain run to Hinkle. There are lots of AC4400s there all the time.

There are miles and miles of scenic abandoned branch line right of ways in south western Idaho, some with bridges intact, if you are a railroad archeology buff.

It is too bad they pulled up the old downtown Boise Branch from Fairview. With the endless freeway construction, gas heading to $5 a gallon, rapidly increasing air pollution, and constant gridlock, they should resurrect this line and run commuter trains on it between Boise and Caldwell, ala Salt Lake City.

If you need to stay close-in, you can go east on I-84 to the Orchard exit (about 3-4 miles from city center), turn right at the stop sign, go down 1 mile or so to the tracks. Theres an old UP water tank there and parking off the rightaway and roadway. Have never been bothered and trains have meets there quite often. Bob

Don't forget to shoot the depot in Boise. Striking architecture which has been well taken care of and restored. The locals can give you the best sun angle times. If you only get one shot from the trip, this should be it.

Thanks everyone for your replies. It should be a good trip, and I should have at least one day to get away for a full day of railfanning.