Newport Bets on the Railroad

The Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad will begin the erection of their new passenger depot in this city early next week. The new building will be located near the site of the present temporary ticket office, at the foot of Washington Avenue and in the heart of the business district. It will be of brick veneer construction, will have office rooms in the upper story and will be of a pleasing architectural design. It will be steam heated and equipped with ladies' and gents' waiting rooms, lavatories, etc. The grounds adjacent to the depot will be parked and planted to shrubbery and flowers, in order to provide the building with harmonious surroundings. Frank Koch, of Spokane, the landscape gardener, has volunteered to superintend the work of parking. The structure will be similar in style to the station erected at Spirit Lake, and which is claimed to be one of the finest passenger stations in the northwest located in towns of 10,000 population. The building will cost between $8,000 and $10,000 when completed. P. L. Peterson of Spokane has the contract for the work at the local station. Work on the freight depot, which is to be located on Union Avenue, between First and Second streets, will be started before the passenger station is completed. The other work contemplated by the company in Newport will be started as soon as the work under way at the present time at Spirit Lake has been finished. The company will expend a great deal of money in Newport and vicinity during the coming year. A third steam shovel will probably be added by the Great Northern in order to expedite the work of cutting down the bluff east of town for the purpose of securing material for making the fill at the meadows. The chances for a Great Northern depot appear to be excellent at this time. One of the officials of the road told a Miner man that the company would construct a depot at this point this year. The old depot will probably be used for a freight house. When the work of cutting down the bluff is finished it is said that the main tracks of the Great Northern will be shifted somewhat south of their present location, the tracks lowered over a foot and the curve at the east end of the yards eliminated. This will necessitate the removal of the present depot and water tank to a new location. It is probable that a great deal of work will be done on the local yards in the way of constructing additional sidings to accommodate the growing business of the patrons of the road. The switch leading to the Fidelity planing mill will be extended so as to give better accommodations to the Northern Mercantile Company's pole yards and also make it handy for Jurgens Bros.' sawmill to ship in case they desire. If the work planned by the company is completed at least $75,000 will be expended at this point for local improvements. W. Smith, formerly of the Great Northern, has been appointed chief engineer of the Idaho & Washington Northern and has assumed his new duties.