Organization

Idaho Washington Northern Railroad

Named in 24 stories. Back to all names

Nov 9, 1907Newport's $300 City Hall Was a Secondhand Newspaper OfficeThe council accepted the Idaho Washington Northern's offer of the old Miner building, then appointed a committee to move it to Washington Avenue for use as fire apparatus storage, council chambers and police court.Newport, WA
Nov 9, 1907The Railroad Was Ready—Until a Court Order Stopped the Trains at Fourth and UnionThe Idaho Washington Northern planned passenger and freight service out of Newport, but a temporary injunction barred trains from a stretch of track across Fourth Street and Union Avenue until a Colville hearing.Newport, WA
Nov 29, 1907The First Train Into Newport Changed EverythingOn November 25, 1907, the Idaho Washington Northern inaugurated passenger and daily freight service, bringing railroad executives, Spokane promoters and a promise of growth to Newport.Newport, WA
Nov 29, 1907Fired Railroad Workers Were Paid in Paper—So Their Lawyer SuedAfter the Idaho Washington Northern let go 26 men, it handed them orders for time certificates instead of cash. Newport's courts became the battleground.Newport, WA
Jan 9, 1908Newport Gets a Direct Express Line — and Three Trains a Day to SpokaneThe Idaho Washington Northern opened express offices, accepted two 119-ton freight engines, and promised three through trains a day to Spokane.Newport, WA
Jan 9, 1908A Steamboat Arrives by Rail: Newport's New River Excursion QueenA $35,000 steamer, built in Portland and shipped knocked-down by rail, would run daily excursions from Newport to Box Canyon.Newport, WA
Jan 23, 1908A Palace on Rails Arrives in NewportIdaho Washington Northern's new Pullman coaches—steam-heated, electric-lit and brass-trimmed—began service out of Newport, promising a new through line to Spokane.Newport, WA
Jan 30, 1908Two Hundred Spokane Boosters Ride the New Line Into Newport — and Get a Sleigh RidePresident F. Blackwell of the Idaho & Washington Northern brought nearly 200 Spokane business and railroad men over his brand-new road to Newport, where the band, the Commercial Club and five sleighs were waiting to sell them on the town.Newport, WA
Feb 6, 1908The Pend d'Oreille Valley Sells Itself as the Next Fruit CountryA Spokane Chronicle report touted Stevens County fruit, $10-an-acre land, and a new railroad from Newport to the Metaline mines—and predicted a land rush.Newport, WA
Mar 12, 1908A Hundred Ranchers Tried to Steer the Railroad Down Their Side of the RiverProperty owners from the Calispel valley packed a Cusick meeting to lobby the Idaho Washington Northern for a west-side route—offering cheap right-of-way and a pile of guaranteed tonnage.Cusick, WA
Jun 11, 1908A Railroad Asks Newport to Vacate Streets—and Promises to Give Them BackThe Idaho & Washington Northern offered a written pledge to reopen any street or alley on 30 days’ notice as the council weighed a deal for new freight yards.Newport, WA
Oct 22, 1908Tracks Laid in the Night, and the Storekeeper WinsA Spokane injunction against the Idaho & Washington Northern — won by H. M. Lund over trains smoking out his Fourth Street store — is upheld by the state supreme court, with 30 days for the railroad to settle or stop running.Newport, WA
Dec 24, 1908New Capital, New Mill: Dalkena Lumber Co. Takes OverA Minneapolis-backed corporation buys the D. K. Mill, plans a band mill and retail lumber trade, and bets on the coming railroad.Dalkena, WA
Mar 4, 1909A Ferry Landing Secured—and a Mill Kept in TownRailroad grants river frontage; Bonner County will run a free crossing to the Fidelity mill starting in April.Newport, WA
Mar 11, 1909A Million-Dollar Cement Mill Is Coming to the Pend OreilleBacked by Lehigh Valley cement men, the Inland Empire Portland Cement Co. buys Sullivan Creek water and mineral rights and promises a 2,000-barrel-a-day plant—once the railroad reaches Metaline.Metaline, WA
Jun 24, 1909Blueslide Breakthrough: The Tunnel That Pushed the Idaho & Washington Northern ThroughAfter months of hand drilling, a crew of more than 500 blows a heading through the Blueslide tunnel — while the railroad’s general manager limps on crutches after a freak construction accident.Blueslide, WA
Sep 30, 1909Metaline's Mines Are Ready to Roar—If the Railroad ArrivesWith the Idaho Washington Northern extending toward Sullivan Creek, Metaline district companies are staffing up, building mills, and betting on a shipping boom.Metaline, WA
Nov 4, 1909The Nagles Take On the Railroad Over a Spur Past Their DoorPhillip and Mary Nagle are suing the Idaho Washington Northern Railroad for $3,000 over a dock spur built past their State Line Avenue property.Newport, WA
Mar 24, 1910Newport Saloon Owners Sue the Railroad That Remade Their StreetJohn Koch and Max Weinkauff say the Idaho Washington Northern turned Fourth Street from a business center into a smoky, obstructed nuisance—and they want $10,000.Newport, WA
Mar 31, 1910Railroad's Right-of-Way Bill Comes Back at $6,000A Colville jury rejects a $30,000-an-acre claim from the old Jordan cement plant and hands the Idaho Washington Northern a costly but smaller condemnation verdict.Colville, WA
Apr 28, 1910The Newport Club Burns: A Saloon's Last Call Comes as SmokeA midnight blaze in 1910 destroys one of Newport's oldest business buildings — the former miners' saloon that went dry after local option — and the owners say they won't rebuild.Newport, WA
May 5, 1910The Booster's Case: Why Newport Was Betting on ItselfAfter a premature boom and a painful readjustment, Newport's paper argued the town's future was assured — citing $200,000 from the Idaho Washington Northern, $140,000 from the power company, and a new Great Northern depot built for a city of ten thousand.Newport, WA
May 12, 1910Eleven Carloads of Cedar Poles Roll Out of Newport in a Single Day220 tons of poles bound for Ohio and points east — the biggest day's shipment ever to leave the station — as Newport cements its claim as the cedar pole capital of the region.Newport, WA
May 19, 1910State Inspector Calls the Idaho Washington Northern the Best Railroad in WashingtonAfter a complaint about dangerous track north of Newport, a state inspector rode the line and pronounced it first-rate — and praised the railroad commission as a bargain for taxpayers.Newport, WA