White Pine Thursday (Sequel to Pleasant Valley Wednesday)

Approaching Harvard.  Any better place to truly experience North Idaho? I don’t think so.

On Thursday, the first morning in my campsite, I awoke, put on clean clothes and heated some water for an easy breakfast of instant oatmeal. I was staying at Little Boulder campground; about 25 miles east of Moscow, ID, and this would be my base of operations for the next three days while attending the Milwaukee Road Historical Association convention in Moscow. I was too cheap to stay at the convention hotel, or any hotel for that matter, and besides, the campground was once a Potlatch
Lumber Co. logging camp.

Is there any better place to truly experience North Idaho? I don’t think so.

The reason the 2012 MRHA convention was held in Moscow was for Milwaukee Road fans to become more familiar with my favorite shortline railroad, the Washington, Idaho & Montana Ry. The Milwaukee operated the WI&M for almost two decades, from 1962 to 1980, but it was originally built and operated by the same Potlatch Lumber Co. whose former camp I now, temporarily, called home .

The convention would begin later that afternoon, and in making plans for this trip, I allowed myself to hope that a train would be running on the WI&M that morning. Only the westernmost 17 miles of the WI&M still exist as an operating railroad, and currently, trains of the Washington & Idaho Railroad (WIR) make a once-weekly trip out of the town of Palouse, WA to serve the Bennett Lumber Co. mill near the end of track at Harvard, ID. I had been successful the day before in photographing a train operating on former Union Pacific tracks in the Western Palouse region, and now I was hoping for equal success on the eastern fringes of the Palouse.

To eliminate most of my uncertainty, I had made a phone call to friends at the WIR office the day before who put me in touch with Joel King, the engineer assigned to make the WI&M run. In a short telephone conversation, Joel assured me he had just tied his train down in Palouse earlier that day, and was planning to be there again at 7 a.m. on Thursday to run out as far as the end-of-track at Harvard.

As I drove west toward Palouse, I felt both relief and surprise that the weather was perfect for chasing and photographing the train. Joel showed up right on time and invited me up into the locomotive cab to chat while he did a little switching on the ex-NP tracks in Palouse. He offered to let me ride all the way out to Harvard, and as great as that would be, I took a rain check. For me, having good photos of the train in action is just as important as the experience of a cab ride, and it’s kind of hard to photograph a train you’re riding. Instead I climbed down and took up a position to start snapping pictures as soon as he rolled onto the WI&M tracks.

A little switching on the ex-NP tracks in Palouse

Leading this day’s train was MRLX 6304, the Canadian built (and rebuilt) FP-9Au that the WIR leased from a private party.  The 6304 looked out of place on the WI&M for at least two reasons:  its Southern Pacific "Black Widow" paint scheme is clearly out of place in the Inland Northwest, and it really seemed odd to witness a streamlined former passenger unit hauling a lowly train of lumber flatcars. But, I did have to agree with another WIR engineer who once told me "she is easy on the eyes."  And, although its lines are much more angular, I found the trailing unit, GP-30m #20, to be almost as sleek as the F-unit.

The run east from Palouse was uneventful for Joel. He took it easy at the prescribed 10

mph with nine empty centerbeam flatcars bound for the Bennett mill and a single pole rack billed for Harvard. I followed along and shot photos from several of my usual locations, plus a few new ones. While waiting for the train to appear just west of Kennedy Ford, a small blue car pulled alongside. From its WI&M vanity plates, I knew immediately it was Dave Zuhn, my friend from Minnesota who had driven out for the convention!

Dave was also out to see the train, so we teamed up for the rest of the morning, and I had a chance to share some favorite photo locations with him as the train rolled under US Highway 95 and through the town of Potlatch, where its namesake lumber company once operated a massive sawmill before dismantling it in 1983.  At least the old WI&M depot is still in place, freshly restored and right alongside the tracks where it belongs

Continuing east, we stopped a few miles beyond Princeton at a spot where the tracks and the highway are particularly close for another photo opportunity. Tom, the train’s conductor, pulled up behind us in his pickup truck, and we watched him approach the tracks just as the train appeared and came to a stop. We could see Tom and Joel talking to each other, and it became clear there was a concern about the track just ahead of the engine. Tom got down on his hands and knees with radio in hand, and watched closely as the locomotive began to inch ahead, talking Joel slowly across the bad spot. Once the engine was across, the speed increased slightly, but the concerned look on Tom’s face didn't go away until the entire train had passed without derailing. I learned later from Tom that the combination of a bad weld joint and weakened ties on a curve was the cause for their concern.

Talking Joel slowly across the bad spot

Another few miles down the line, the train rolled right past the switch leading into the Bennett Lumber complex. Four more miles past the mill, the train arrived at Harvard, staying on the main track while Tom cut the engines off. There were two pole loads waiting on the siding, and the engines promptly rolled forward past the switch, then backed onto the loaded cars. Tacking them onto the rest of the train, the crew next moved back on the siding to "run around" the rest of the train. Watching the train use this siding was a first for me.

Switching at Harvard - a first for me

They next cut the empty log rack off the rear of the train and pushed it ahead to a spot on the siding for loading the following week. Then, slowly backing off the siding again, the crew coupled the locomotive set onto the west end of the train. Joel performed the necessary steps to set GP-30m #20 up as the lead locomotive, then hollered down with another cab ride offer.  Since we were driving my car, I passed again, but pointed to Dave.  He hesitated at first, but the urge was too strong, and soon Dave was sitting in the fireman’s seat.  After a short delay, the train was underway back toward the Bennett mill.

Dave Zuhn in the fireman's seat - the urge was too strong

Right where the tracks cross Highway 9 just west of Harvard, a highway crew was out re-painting the road stripes at that intersection.  Backing off to let the train safely pass, the foreman asked me how come they were using an old Amtrak engine on the train.  He mentioned that he once worked for Burlington Northern, and this seemed pretty unusual to him.  I didn't bore him with too many details (that this was a former Canadian National engine, not Amtrak), but I explained the situation the best I could before heading off down the highway.

Once the train reached the spur to the Bennett mill, Dave hopped off.  Tom cut off the two pole cars at the train’s rear, and Joel pulled the train forward.  Tom threw the switch, and Joel then shoved the cut of centerbeams back into the mill’s loading areas.

At this point, the crew was almost done for the day, so Dave and I headed back toward Potlatch for him to grab his car, and to both head down to Moscow to check in at the convention desk.  I found the MHRA convention very enjoyable; I learned a lot and made several new friends.  Riding a caboose across Benewah Lake on the old Milwaukee mainline was exciting, too!  But for me, very little can beat the thrill of following a working freight train along the tracks of the old WI&M Railway through my favorite part of North Idaho.

Riding a caboose across Benewah Lake on the old Milwaukee mainline was exciting, too!

Epilogue:  I had another opportunity the following summer to chase the WI&M freight in both directions between Palouse and the Bennett mill.  This time, I was finally able to share the cab of GP-30m #20 with Joel on the westbound run from Kennedy Ford to Palouse!

Joel died unexpectedly a few months later.  The sense of loss I felt was nothing compared to that of his family and closer friends, but it was still real.  Joel was a great guy, and I wish I'd had more time to become better friends with him.

Trains still run on the WI&M, and I hope I'll have more chances to chase them.

Joel King at the controls of FP-9Au 6304