THE WHEAT BRANCHES : GOING, GOING, BUT NOT GONE, THEY STILL MOVE GRAIN TO MARKET

The branch lines of western Washington grew up to serve the wheat crop, the state's fifth most valuable. The densest concentration is south of Spokane and east of Pasco, territory fought over by the Northern Pacific and the Union Pacific. When an expensive expansion threatened their economic health, the two lines agreed to split the cost of the new track and operate in an uneasy alliance. The opening of the Columbia-Snake River dam and lock system siphoned as much as 60% of the traffic to trucks and barges, which hauled the wheat to ports for shipping to destinations such as Japan, Pakistan and the Philippines. But surface road care costs rose, so the state DOT found cheap loans to finance track repair to shift some of the burden back to rail and kept the short lines running.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/6163876
• Corporate Authors:

  Kalmbach Publishing Company

  21027 Crossroads Circle
  P.O. Box 1612
  Waukesha, WI  United States  53187-1612
• Authors:
  • Bachman, B
• Publication Date: 2002-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 54-55
• Serial:
  • Trains
  • Volume: 62
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: Kalmbach Publishing Company
  • ISSN: 0041-0934
  • Serial URL: http://trainsmag.com

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Car supply (Railroads); Freight traffic; Short line railroads; Wheat
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00923639
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS
• Created Date: May 2 2002 12:00AM