13 years ago

The logo of the Camas Praire Railroad and later Camas Prairie Railnet.  The local management designed this logo for the railroad in the late 1980's and applied it to several pieces of equipment such as motor cars, hy-rail vehicles, etc..

Thursday, April 17, 1998,  marked the end of the Camas Prairie Railroad and its joint ownership by Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (nee Burlington Northern and Northern Pacific).  While the lines, all or some, have continued to be operated in some form or fashion since, this date was the end of an arrangement between two arch competitors that truly made the Camas Prairie Railroad a unique entity.  Following are some pictures of the last run of the Camas Prairie Railroad, along with my thoughts and reflections of that day.




The dreaded last day of the Camas Prairie Railroad, April 17, 1998 had finally arrived.  I had planned days off away from my college job to be in Lewiston for this melancholy day.  It seemed more like a wake than anything else.  I had been personally documenting the railroad for five years.  In 1993, it started out as a railfan trip and then a research endeavor for my modeling pursuits.  By 1998, it had  become much more than that.  I had, in a sense, formed a relationship with the essence of the railroad.  Its employees, its historians, it fans, the region in which it served, its physical being (locomotives, structures, bridges, etc) and ultimately, its place in history.  



There was a bond formed to the landscape and the region. The deep canyons of the Clearwater River;  the rolling wheat fields of the Camas Prairie plateau;  the backdrop of the Clearwater and Bitterroot mountains;  the dusty smell of wheat chaff during the late summer harvest;  The sweet fragrance of fresh cut Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir from the numerous mills along the Clearwater River. 


Finally, the bond formed with the railroad machines themselves.  Watching a train assault the 3.5% grade up Lapwai Canyon, exposing itself over the spindly Halfmoon trestle on an early October morning was almost a religious experience! Man versus nature at its finest.


The last trains run by the Camas Prairie Railroad were the Ayer Turn headed to Riparia and Ayer on the third subdivision to interchange commercials to the parent roads, and an empty log train destined for Jaype on the fourth subdivision.  I had decided I would follow the train east which usually departed East Lewiston around 8AM and traveled to Lewiston early that morning from Missoula, anticipating some commiserating among the fans and rails before the trains departure.   An opportunity for a picture or two of the employees working the last runs would also hopefully develop. 


There were several railfans, or as Conductor Dan Wayt would refer to us, Paparazzi, assembled in the parking lot at the East Lewiston yard office awaiting the trains departure, however as this was not a normal day, things were a little off schedule.  The scene at the yard was actually a little tense as the management from the new company, North American Railnet, had established a presence earlier in the week to observe the operation.  The UP and BNSF employees were somewhat irritated with this, adding to the uncomfortableness of the day.


It was almost 10AM, yet the eastbound train still hadn't departed.  Our small group of Paparazzi hung around in the periphery waiting for the train to depart and talking about how much we were going to miss coming to Lewiston to take pictures of the Camas Prairie Railroad. 


Garry and Roz Miller, who had formed many relationships with the train service employees, finally got the scoop from one of the trainmen as to why it going on noon and the train was still in the yard.  There had been a derailment involving the switch engine and it was delaying the trains departure.


This was not good! The light was getting worse as clouds were starting to roll in and when the sun was shining, it would be high.  Finally, we saw the crew, Engineer Bill Delyea, Conductor Butch Crooks and Brakeman Bob Campbell get it in the company vehicle to head over to Forebay where they would board the train.   They were ready to go shortly before noon.

BN 2882-2173-2756 lead the last Camas Prairie Railroad train along the Clearwater River near North Lapwai, ID.

Conductor Butch Crooks waves with fusee in hand passing the old station of Cherrylane.

With the crew having been on duty almost six hours and the slow speed of the railroad, it was clear they would only make it to Jaype and not have time to return to Orofino as was the plan, so there would only be one opportunity at each chosen location to get a picture.  This was the last time, so we needed to make the photo opportunities count!

The train to Jaype has started its way upgrade, entering the Orofino Creek canyon east of Konkolville.  The run to Jaype on the fourth subdivision follows Orofino Creek for 30 miles up a 2.5% grade, crossing the creek numerous times on wood bridges.

The last run traverses Bridge 22, one of the many wood bridges that crosses Orofino Creek on the way to Jaype. The majority of the railroad on the fourth subdivision is inaccessible with out four wheel drive and often requires a good hike to get to a decent vantage point for a photo.  Garry and Roz Miller knew the way into this location, so we took their vehicle into the wilderness, walked across this bridge and set up our tripods and cameras out in the creek!   

The train arrived Jaype about 4 PM and when they finished spotting the empty log cars to the log yard and empty box cars to the dock, that was it.  North American Railnet wouldn't officially take over until 1201 AM on  April 18, but the crew and all of us who followed the train that day knew it was over.  The last chase and the last day was done.

After arriving at Jaype, engineer Bill Delyea takes the power back to south end of the yard at Jaype.  After spotting the empty log cars to the two reload tracks, he and the rest of the crew will be done with the days work.  After 90 years, operations by the UP and BNSF owned Camas Prairie Railroad will become a part of history.

Engineer Bill Delyea pauses for a portrait between switching moves at Jaype.  Someone, (it wasn't me, honest!) had written "CAMAS PRAIRIE" in the grime along the side of battery box.  I hadn't noticed until the day was almost over.

The employees at the Potlatch Jaype Plywood unit threw a small going away party for the crew with a cake and soft drinks and even had a banner fastened to one of the plywood boxcars while the crew was spotting the empty log cars in the log yard.  The Potlatch folks were kind enough to include all the Paparazzi too.  We had a nice, though somewhat subdued time, remembering the good times and talking about the demise of one of our favorite rail lines.

The folks at the Potlatch Jaype plywood unit threw a going away party for the crew.  The crew is standing at the entrance to the plywood loading dock with a banner and balloons fastened to one of the boxcars.  In three years, Potlatch will decide the  Jaype Plywood mill itself to be surplus, shut it down and raze it.  From left to right:  Brakeman Bob Campbell, Conductor Butch Crooks and Engineer Bill Delyea.  Bob Campbell passed away in 2001.  Bill Delyea and Butch Crooks both finished their careers working out of Spokane for the BNSF Railway.  Butch hired on the Northern Pacific in 1967 and retired in 2009. 

Camas Prairie Railnet took over at 12:01 AM, April 18, and I decided to get some pictures of their first day of operations.  Earlier in the week, the BNSF crew had taken two of Camas Prairie Railnet's 4 axle GE power to Grangeville and they would make their inaugural run from Grangeville back to Lewiston. 

Camas Prairie Railnet's train is just west of Grangeville on their first day of operations.  Earlier in the week, the BNSF crew had brought Railnet's GE power to Grangeville and left it inside the Bennett-Shearer Lumber facility to protect the units from possible vandalism.  The BNSF crew also brought a caboose with them, so on Railnet's first day, the caboose was part of the train, though not on the rear.

Camas Prairie Railnet approaches Arrow, bringing the BNSF power back from Jaype, along with eight carloads of plywood and 40 or so carloads of sawlogs.  Wavering in the wind is a balloon still attached to the boxcar from the previous days going away party.    

 With the previous days train to Jaype still there, with its BNSF owned power, another Railnet crew would be bringing it back to Lewiston also.  It turned out to be an eventful day with quite a few more picture opportunities, but it just wasn't the same railroad it had been 24 hours earlier. 

The last day's paparazzi included, besides myself, Garry and Roz Miller of Calgary, Alberta; Marc Entze of Walla Walla, WA and Camron Settlemeier of Portland, OR