|
The Camas Prairie:
Idaho's Panhandle Railroad is a history of the spectacular
Camas Prairie Railroad in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.
Formed out of the intense competition between the Northern Pacific
Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad in 1909, the Camas Prairie
operated joint trackage between Riparia, Washington, and Lewiston,
Idaho, with branches extending to Headquarters, Stites, and
Grangeville, Idaho. The railroad became known for its many spectacular
timber bridges, including the famous Halfmoon bridge in Lapwai
Canyon. Carefully researched from railroad papers and interviews
with employees, this is the story of the Camas Prairie Railroad
from founding to present-day.
Chapters cover surveying
and constructing the line to the railroad's namesake prairie,
the relationship with the railroad's largest shipper, Potlatch
Forests, Inc., the evolving operations of each of the railroad's
four subdivisions as the company adapted to stay viable, the
railroad's equipment, (including locomotives, cabooses, and
other rolling stock leased from its parent companies Union Pacific
and Northern Pacific), and the post-1998 short line era. The
book also discusses freight and passenger connections to the
parent roads.
From the beginning,
photographers were drawn to the railroad due to the many spectacular
bridges built to handle the steep terrain. Photographs in the
book span from the early construction era to the 2000s and include
the work of well-known photographers: Henry R. Griffiths, Jr.,
Dr. Philip R. Hastings, Philip C. Johnson, Blair Kooistra, Rob
Leachman, and many others! With multiple maps and over 350 illustrations
and photographs, many in color, this 320-page hardcover book
will be of great interest to both Union Pacific and Northern
Pacific historians alike, as well as anyone interested in Pacific
Northwest history.
Cloth hardcover with
dust jacket, 320 pages, Color and B&W photographs and illustrations.
|
