WSDOT refurbishes PCC railroad lines

COLFAX — The Palouse River Coulee City Railroad (PCC) refurnishing work is nearly completed on three branches of the rail system.

The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) purchased approximately 300 miles of track operating within Grant, Lincoln, Spokane, and Whitman counties in 2007. The PCC is the longest short-line freight rail system in Washington.

"Maintaining these rail lines helps farmers get goods to larger rail lines and on to regional and international markets," stated a WSDOT spokesperson.

The state is replacing ties, placing ballast, surfacing, ditching, and rehabilitating crossings on portions of the Hooper Branch, CW Branch, and the P&L Branch. Punch-list items remain, said Chad Simonson, project engineer.

The Hooper Branch runs from Thornton and Hooper to Winona then to Colfax. WSDOT is working on 17 miles of track between milepost 41 to milepost 58.

The CW Branch runs from Coulee City to Cheney. WSDOT is working on 29 miles of track from milepost 10 to 39.

The P&L Branch runs from Marshall through Pullman, to the Idaho border near Moscow, Idaho, and from Palouse to Princeton, Idaho. WSDOT is working on 17 miles of track from milepost 12 to 29.