The Rails Come to Newport: Yards, Depots, and a Town Betting Its Future on the I. & W. N.

President F. A. Blackwell and Vice-President and General Manager W. K. Blackwell, of the Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad, accompanied by Chief Engineer M. O. Smith and General Freight and Passenger Agent George J. Mohler, were in town Saturday looking over the ground for the proposed yards of the company in this city. M. J. Costello, assistant general passenger agent, and Archibald Gray, assistant general freight agent of the Great Northern, were in the city with them, and the party looked over the ground with a view of enlarging the present transfer track of the two roads in this city.

The surveying crew of the I. & W. N., with headquarters at Dalkena, consists of fourteen men. They are working both sides of the river from the one camp, and started work on this side at Katydid point, a few miles below Newport. The launch Skiddoo, captained by P. J. Kimmel, is carrying supplies to the camp and taking the men to and from their work. Locating Engineer L. F. McCoy is in charge of the party.

It is reported that the construction work of the Idaho & Washington Northern on its down-river extension will be all done by contract this year, and that contractors have been going down river the past week to look over the ground.

Work on the passenger depot for the I. & W. N. R. R. is progressing rapidly. The frame is about up and the bricklayers are expected to start work early next week.

At the next meeting of the town council in May the Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad will apply for a franchise for crossing several streets and alleys in the east part of town. These rights are needed for the construction of their loop and industrial tracks, and work on the Newport yards will begin at once after the granting of the franchise.

Work on the piers of the Great Northern bridge at Albeni Falls was stopped on Wednesday by Messrs. Cook & Sons, the contractors, who laid off all their men. The water has got so high that it overflows the cofferdams. Work will not be resumed until some time in July. The abutments and one pier are completed and there yet remain four piers to construct. It had been expected to have the piers completed by this time and the steel work well under way, but unforeseen difficulties in keeping the water out of the cofferdams has retarded the work, and it is now likely that the fill on the long trestle will be completed before the bridge.

The I. & W. N. R. R. has granted Agent Gibbs permission to install an exhibit of the mineral resources of this section in the new passenger depot. Cabinets will be provided and all specimens will be labelled, showing names of claims from which they came and information concerning the progress of development. Mining men are requested to supply samples of ore to Agent Gibbs. Located in the depot the exhibit will attract the attention of many strangers and will be of much benefit to this section.

Work on the new freight depot of the I. & W. N. is progressing nicely and the concrete piers which will constitute the foundation will be in this week. The freight house will be 30 x 120 feet with a platform on three sides. The platform on the north end being 25 feet wide and on the south and east sides eight feet. On the west side will be the team approaches and the offices. The offices are commodious and nicely arranged and are provided with toilet rooms, lobby and cloak rooms. A derrick will be put in for convenience in handling heavy freight.

The I. & W. N. is fast putting its roadbed into as perfect a condition as possible. An extra gang of 100 men is just completing the six miles between Grand Junction and Rathdrum, which stretch is as fine a piece of roadbed as can be found anywhere in the country. The trains can make up considerable time on this stretch with ease as the track will stand any rate of speed. The whole line is comparatively easy riding but the work will be continued until it is made as perfect as possible. With the best of road building materials at hand and a willingness to expend money to get results the Blackwell road will be unsurpassed in the northwest. Passenger traffic on the road is picking up fast and will increase even more rapidly as the traveling public becomes acquainted with the advantages it offers.