Rail link to Pullman could also be pulled

A strategic draft plan for the Palouse River and Coulee City Rail system lists 37 miles of railroad in Whitman County which will undergo an assessment to determine if they should be removed and the property subsequently placed in the rail banking program.

Bob Westby, manager of the PCC system for the Department of Transportation, said the two segments include the now-idle Colfax to Pullman line and the P & L line on the east side of the county south from Fallon. Removal of that line would leave Pullman without a rail connection.

Fallon is the Pacific Northwest Farmers railcar loading facility along Highway 27 between Palouse and Pullman.

Westby said town meetings will be conducted to determine whether or not a commercial future exists for the rail lines. He noted the line on the east side of the county south of Fallon has lost its last customer which was located at Wilson siding on the Washington-Idaho state line.

Westby pointed out the operators on the lines now face maintenance expenses for crossings, weed control and upkeep while the lines do not generate any revenue.

The draft of the rail study points out the potential use of rails that would be salvaged from the two local segments on other parts of the system. The study points out a problem that the overall system has, in some places, light weight rails which date back to before a production cooling technology was introduced in the late 1930s to produce higher quality rails.

The draft study also points out the chief problem of the rail line from Fallon north, including Oakesdale, Garfield and the McCoy Loader, is the condition of the bridges on the line which extends to the BNSF mainline at Marshall. It notes the bridges are unable to take the pounding of the larger grain cars now in use.

Two meetings on the draft plan at the Lincoln County courthouse in Davenport have been scheduled for March 18. An open house for the draft plan will be from 10 a.m. to noon. A meeting of the PCC Rail Authority board will be from 1 to 3 p.m.

The Colfax-Pullman rail property has been proposed for development of a trail. Also, property owners along the line have proposed the rail property be abandoned and returned to private ownership.