New Steel, New Docks, and a Railroad That Won't Say Which Side of the River
Crews are relaying 102 miles of Great Northern track through Newport and building a freight dock that lets a train meet a steamboat — while the town waits to learn whether the Idaho & Washington Northern will run up the Washington or the Idaho bank. One west-side rancher is so sure he has ordered ten cars of wood.
The work of laying new 95-pound steel on the Great Northern is progressing rapidly. Several boarding cars arrived at Newport Monday, and the crew is now at work between Penrith and this station. The whole stretch of track between Hillyard and Belknap, Mont., a distance of 102 miles, is being relaid, and is an improvement which has been greatly needed. It is again rumored that there will be a slight change toward the south of the tracks in the local yards, so as to take out some of the curve leading onto the new track on the fill east of town. The grade through town will also be lowered several feet.
The Fidelity pile driver is being used to drive the piles for the new dock for the transferring of freight, which is being built by the I. & W. N. and the Pend Oreille River Navigation Co. The new dock extends to the tracks of the railroad, and a steam hoist will be installed to handle the freight, which will be run down to the boat on cars. Passenger and baggage transfers are already being made at the docks, the 9:20 train running to the boat landing and the 6:15 train to Spokane meets the boat. These improvements are in line with the policy of the company to do everything possible to forward the development of the lower river country, and will be the means of saving a great deal of money to the people of that section.
The I. & W. N. now has two trains at work on the local yards, and the steam shovel is making the cuts necessary to get in the house tracks at the freight depot. The dirt removed is being taken to the fill west of town, which is being widened and the bridge timbers taken out, making a solid dirt fill.
Surveying crews on the I. & W. N. extension are rushing the work through. On the west side one crew has returned to work in the Calispel valley, and is working from a point opposite Fenora to the north.
There continues to be considerable speculation as to which side of the river the railroad is going down. Arguments for both sides are discussed, but as yet no tips have been given out, nor is there anything to warrant a belief that a decision has been reached. The work of getting options on right-of-way on both sides continues.
One west side rancher is sure that the road is going down that side, and has given Agent Gibbs an order for ten cars of wood, to be delivered at the nearest siding on Nov. 10.
The I. & W. N. has purchased a dozen new refrigerator cars, the first to appear in the Newport yards being seen here this morning. It brought a load of ice from Blanchard for the Navigation Co.
The Idaho & Washington Northern and the Pend Oreille River Navigation Company have reduced the round trip week day rate from Spokane to Tiger and return to $4. Heretofore it has been $5. The Sunday trip continues to grow in popularity with Spokane people, the special train being well patronized every Sunday.
“One west side rancher is sure that the road is going down that side, and has given Agent Gibbs an order for ten cars of wood, to be delivered at the nearest siding on Nov. 10.”
Newport's whole future in 1908 hinged on which bank of the Pend Oreille a railroad chose — the same bet small towns still make on a highway interchange or a rail spur. The train-to-steamboat transfer dock was the era's intermodal terminal, an efficiency play meant to shave cost off every ton moving downriver. Today the corridor is a recreational river and the old grades are trails and roads, but the town still lives on the transportation decisions made in those few years.
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