Bridge washout spotlights dwindling pot for RR

A washed out bridge near Hartline has officials with the Port of Whitman County concerned.

Port commissioners July 1 approved the release of $50,000 in state railroad rehabilitation funds to repair the bridge that was wiped out by a flashflood on the northern portion of the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad.

Using that chunk to repair the bridge ate into the dollars remaining to make improvements to the 300-mile state-owned rail system.

The system consists of three shortline railroads, two of which run through Whitman County. The port is one of four entities in eastern Washington in the P...