US Northwest North Idaho Moon Pass Day Trip June 10th 2023

[PapaDave]

Wallace to Avery Idaho along the old Hiawatha tracks through tunnels and over bridges.

View Rally Point

 

[PapaDave]

Come along!
June 10th is our day trip, June 11th is our meet up. Our North Idaho meet up has a dedicated page at

US Northwest - North Idaho Meet Up- Eastern WA and Western Montana

North Idaho Monthly Meet Up Eastern WA-North Idaho-Western MT We will resume monthly meets in the late fall of 2024 as we have a trip a month, check the 2nd post! We meet the second Sunday of each month. LOCATION- Pizza Factory Pizza Factory 503 W Appleway Ave Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814...

www.overlandbound.com

GPX viewer

 

[Bodge Garage]

Is it the 10th or 11th? It says 11th in the title but 10th in the rally point.

 

[PapaDave]

Is it the 10th or 11th? It says 11th in the title but 10th in the rally point.

The title was corrected, thanks! It’s the 10th, meet up on the 11th.

 

[PapaDave]

The GPX file has been added for this trip, be sure to RSVP if you’d like to come!

 

[Two Sheds]

Pardon me,but can anyone educate me as to how to transfer a GPX file to my Gaia app so i can view the trail?

 

[PapaDave]

What kind of device do you have? Android or Apple? I know Apple, you would tap on the file and download, then open it and it will like gibberish. Then in the right top corner click the up arrow and “open in” and choose GAIA

 

[Two Sheds]

I pad, I’ll give it a go..thanks

 

[Mountaintrails71]

Your GPX files shows basically the ID BDR route. Heading south after the Saint Joe. Is that your plan? Once you leave the Joe it is a long haul on forest service roads. This is a day trip correct?
There is a huge history here. I will post from another website. There is a cool hike if you want that is worth while. Down by Avery on the Saint Joe River there is lots of camping and a neat forest service building area. Turning East you can head to Saint Regis and they have the best Milk Shakes.

 

[Mountaintrails71]

Posted from another site.

“The Route of the Hiawatha provides recreationists the unique ability to experience the Bitterroot Mountains through northern Idaho and western Montana from the relaxation of a gentle rail bed that extends roughly 15 miles through Shoshone County, Idaho. The right-of-way once belonged to the Milwaukee Road as an important main line to the West Coast. The route was the last transcontinental one completed during the early 20th century, linking Chicago with the Pacific Northwest. While it may have been the last, it was also the best engineered, featuring relatively easy grades, an overall shorter route, and a direct connection between Chicago and Seattle (unlike its rivals which had to interchange their trains at the Twin Cities to reach the Windy City). Unfortunately, an incompetent top management at the company brought the railroad to its knees, forcing it into bankruptcy and the eventual abandonment of its Pacific Coast Extension.

During its height, the Milwaukee Road was a massive system connecting a dozen states and not only reached Puget Sound but also stretched as far east as Louisville, Kentucky. Before the mega-merger movement, which created most of today’s seven large Class I railroads, the Milwaukee was the farthest reaching of its kind and had a main line network spanning more than 10,500 miles. The history of the company began humbly as the Milwaukee & Waukesha Railroad of 1847 to connect its namesake cities. After being renamed as the Milwaukee & Mississippi, it opened for service in 1850. After a receivership and two takeovers, the property was renamed the Milwaukee & St. Paul in 1867, and then again as the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul (CM&StP) in 1874 when it opened a line to Chicago.

Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the CM&StP continued to expand throughout the Midwest, reaching Omaha, Kansas City, and the Twin Cities, as well as making deep inroads into Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. By this time the company boasted a rail network of more than 5,000 miles, but officials felt that its status as a common “granger road” would not suffice. The name refers to the agricultural traffic it moved. To effectively compete with rivals Great Northern and Northern Pacific, they believed the CM&StP needed its own western extension reaching to Puget Sound. A study of the plan determined that building the 1,400 miles needed to connect Seattle would cost $45 million. Surveying for the project began in earnest in 1901; in 1905, the company board approved the construction, despite the cost being readjusted to $60 million. During 1906, work got under way when two primary contractors headed west from Mobridge, South Dakota, and east from Seattle. After just three years, the line was completed, thanks in part to new construction techniques and mechanized equipment. A golden spike ceremony was held at Garrison, Montana, on May 19, 1909.

The section that now makes up the Route of the Hiawatha was first surveyed during the fall of 1904 and completed two years later after officials decided the route should be built over St. Paul Pass along the Montana–Idaho border. Laying out this part of the main line through the rugged area was a staggering engineering feat. The railroad estimated that for every 1 mile of grade, at least 4.5 miles was actually surveyed and documented. Altogether, between Butte and St. Paul Pass, some 1,040 miles was surveyed; the actual line spanned those two points was only 230 miles. The primary contractor for the St. Paul Pass Tunnel was the Winston Brothers Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, which also oversaw grading and other related work. The rest of the route from there to Avery, Idaho, was also handled by the Winston Brothers and another company. While today’s trail features eight of the line’s tunnels, none are more dramatic than St. Paul (also known as Taft Tunnel because of its nearness to the now-defunct town of Taft, Montana). The bore is 8,771 feet long (1.66 miles), 19 feet high, and nearly 15 feet wide, yet its relatively gentle grade (for a mountain railroad) is just 1.7% (a rise of 1.7 feet for every 100 feet traveled). Officially, the new route was opened on July 4, 1909, and is often regarded as the Pacific Coast, or Puget Sound Extension. A year later, passenger service began, and by 1911, the company was operating the transcontinental “Columbian” and “Olympian” (the latter of which was the road’s flagship run and renamed the “Olympian Hiawatha” in 1947).

To further expand upon the efficiency of its new route, officials decided to electrify the line over the five mountain ranges it crossed, including the Belts, Bitterroots, Cascades, Rockies, and Saddles. This project started in 1914 at Harlowton, Montana, and was soon completed to Avery, Idaho. Three years later, another section was completed between Othello, Washington, and Seattle. Finally during July 1927, the CM&StP completed electrification of its line into downtown Seattle at Union Station. Overall, it boasted an electrified network of 656 miles, although money issues precluded the “gap” between Avery and Othello from ever being completed. The cost of the railroad and succeeding electrification was staggering, $257 million; nearly six times the initial estimate of $45 million. The heavy debt forced the company into bankruptcy in 1925 from which it emerged in 1927 as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad.

During the extension’s early years. traffic levels did not meet expectations, which eventually resulted in a second bankruptcy in 1945. Its outlook began to change during the 1950s and 1960s when freight volume began to grow, particularly that which originated from the Port of Seattle–Tacoma. After the 1970 Burlington Northern merger, the Milwaukee Road commanded most of the freight from this region because it featured the fastest main line through the Pacific Northwest (not to mention that its electrics vastly reduced operating costs). Unfortunately, the company could not be saved from its poor management team at the time, which wanted nothing more than to get out of the railroad business.

By the 1970s, the railroad was a subsidiary of the Chicago Milwaukee Corporation, a holding company that held business interests outside of railroads. It shut down the electrified operations in 1974 and neglected maintenance of the property, which resulted in increasingly slower train movements due to derailments on the extension. As things got worse, shippers began choosing alternatives to move their goods, such as rival Burlington Northern as well as Union Pacific and Southern Pacific. With its web of unprofitable branch lines in the Midwest and a decaying Pacific Extension, the company fell into bankruptcy a third time on December 19, 1977. In another shortsighted decision, management elected to abandon the entire railroad west of Terry, Montana, in 1979, a total of some 1,100 miles of track. They believed a core Midwestern system would be more profitable than its western lines. Sadly, this turned out not to be the case, and the company continued to slump until the remaining network was sold to the Soo Line in early 1985. Interestingly, following the extension’s abandonment, it was discovered that the corridor had actually still earned a profit even during its final days, despite the lack of maintenance and a bizarre double-entry of expenses on the company books. With the loss of the Milwaukee Road in the West, the Burlington Northern had a complete monopoly on freight traffic between Seattle and Chicago, a scenario which holds true to this day under successor BNSF Railway.

In May 1998, the Route of the Hiawatha opened to the public; three years later, the famed St. Paul Pass was also reopened on June 23, 2001. Today’s trail offers recreationists the chance to not only experience eight of the extension’s tunnels, but also cross seven of its magnificent trestles.

Given the remote nature of the trail, there are few nearby railroad attractions. You’ll find the Northern Pacific Depot Railroad Museum in Wallace, Idaho, and the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, in Missoula, which features some train artifacts. Additionally, the Isaac Walton Inn is a few hours north in Essex, Montana, and is housed in the old Great Northern railroad motel.”

 

[PapaDave]

Posted from another site.

“The Route of the Hiawatha provides recreationists the unique ability to experience the Bitterroot Mountains through northern Idaho and western Montana from the relaxation of a gentle rail bed that extends roughly 15 miles through Shoshone County, Idaho. The right-of-way once belonged to the Milwaukee Road as an important main line to the West Coast. The route was the last transcontinental one completed during the early 20th century, linking Chicago with the Pacific Northwest. While it may have been the last, it was also the best engineered, featuring relatively easy grades, an overall shorter route, and a direct connection between Chicago and Seattle (unlike its rivals which had to interchange their trains at the Twin Cities to reach the Windy City). Unfortunately, an incompetent top management at the company brought the railroad to its knees, forcing it into bankruptcy and the eventual abandonment of its Pacific Coast Extension.

During its height, the Milwaukee Road was a massive system connecting a dozen states and not only reached Puget Sound but also stretched as far east as Louisville, Kentucky. Before the mega-merger movement, which created most of today’s seven large Class I railroads, the Milwaukee was the farthest reaching of its kind and had a main line network spanning more than 10,500 miles. The history of the company began humbly as the Milwaukee & Waukesha Railroad of 1847 to connect its namesake cities. After being renamed as the Milwaukee & Mississippi, it opened for service in 1850. After a receivership and two takeovers, the property was renamed the Milwaukee & St. Paul in 1867, and then again as the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul (CM&StP) in 1874 when it opened a line to Chicago.

Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the CM&StP continued to expand throughout the Midwest, reaching Omaha, Kansas City, and the Twin Cities, as well as making deep inroads into Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. By this time the company boasted a rail network of more than 5,000 miles, but officials felt that its status as a common “granger road” would not suffice. The name refers to the agricultural traffic it moved. To effectively compete with rivals Great Northern and Northern Pacific, they believed the CM&StP needed its own western extension reaching to Puget Sound. A study of the plan determined that building the 1,400 miles needed to connect Seattle would cost $45 million. Surveying for the project began in earnest in 1901; in 1905, the company board approved the construction, despite the cost being readjusted to $60 million. During 1906, work got under way when two primary contractors headed west from Mobridge, South Dakota, and east from Seattle. After just three years, the line was completed, thanks in part to new construction techniques and mechanized equipment. A golden spike ceremony was held at Garrison, Montana, on May 19, 1909.

The section that now makes up the Route of the Hiawatha was first surveyed during the fall of 1904 and completed two years later after officials decided the route should be built over St. Paul Pass along the Montana–Idaho border. Laying out this part of the main line through the rugged area was a staggering engineering feat. The railroad estimated that for every 1 mile of grade, at least 4.5 miles was actually surveyed and documented. Altogether, between Butte and St. Paul Pass, some 1,040 miles was surveyed; the actual line spanned those two points was only 230 miles. The primary contractor for the St. Paul Pass Tunnel was the Winston Brothers Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, which also oversaw grading and other related work. The rest of the route from there to Avery, Idaho, was also handled by the Winston Brothers and another company. While today’s trail features eight of the line’s tunnels, none are more dramatic than St. Paul (also known as Taft Tunnel because of its nearness to the now-defunct town of Taft, Montana). The bore is 8,771 feet long (1.66 miles), 19 feet high, and nearly 15 feet wide, yet its relatively gentle grade (for a mountain railroad) is just 1.7% (a rise of 1.7 feet for every 100 feet traveled). Officially, the new route was opened on July 4, 1909, and is often regarded as the Pacific Coast, or Puget Sound Extension. A year later, passenger service began, and by 1911, the company was operating the transcontinental “Columbian” and “Olympian” (the latter of which was the road’s flagship run and renamed the “Olympian Hiawatha” in 1947).

To further expand upon the efficiency of its new route, officials decided to electrify the line over the five mountain ranges it crossed, including the Belts, Bitterroots, Cascades, Rockies, and Saddles. This project started in 1914 at Harlowton, Montana, and was soon completed to Avery, Idaho. Three years later, another section was completed between Othello, Washington, and Seattle. Finally during July 1927, the CM&StP completed electrification of its line into downtown Seattle at Union Station. Overall, it boasted an electrified network of 656 miles, although money issues precluded the “gap” between Avery and Othello from ever being completed. The cost of the railroad and succeeding electrification was staggering, $257 million; nearly six times the initial estimate of $45 million. The heavy debt forced the company into bankruptcy in 1925 from which it emerged in 1927 as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad.

During the extension’s early years. traffic levels did not meet expectations, which eventually resulted in a second bankruptcy in 1945. Its outlook began to change during the 1950s and 1960s when freight volume began to grow, particularly that which originated from the Port of Seattle–Tacoma. After the 1970 Burlington Northern merger, the Milwaukee Road commanded most of the freight from this region because it featured the fastest main line through the Pacific Northwest (not to mention that its electrics vastly reduced operating costs). Unfortunately, the company could not be saved from its poor management team at the time, which wanted nothing more than to get out of the railroad business.

By the 1970s, the railroad was a subsidiary of the Chicago Milwaukee Corporation, a holding company that held business interests outside of railroads. It shut down the electrified operations in 1974 and neglected maintenance of the property, which resulted in increasingly slower train movements due to derailments on the extension. As things got worse, shippers began choosing alternatives to move their goods, such as rival Burlington Northern as well as Union Pacific and Southern Pacific. With its web of unprofitable branch lines in the Midwest and a decaying Pacific Extension, the company fell into bankruptcy a third time on December 19, 1977. In another shortsighted decision, management elected to abandon the entire railroad west of Terry, Montana, in 1979, a total of some 1,100 miles of track. They believed a core Midwestern system would be more profitable than its western lines. Sadly, this turned out not to be the case, and the company continued to slump until the remaining network was sold to the Soo Line in early 1985. Interestingly, following the extension’s abandonment, it was discovered that the corridor had actually still earned a profit even during its final days, despite the lack of maintenance and a bizarre double-entry of expenses on the company books. With the loss of the Milwaukee Road in the West, the Burlington Northern had a complete monopoly on freight traffic between Seattle and Chicago, a scenario which holds true to this day under successor BNSF Railway.

In May 1998, the Route of the Hiawatha opened to the public; three years later, the famed St. Paul Pass was also reopened on June 23, 2001. Today’s trail offers recreationists the chance to not only experience eight of the extension’s tunnels, but also cross seven of its magnificent trestles.

Given the remote nature of the trail, there are few nearby railroad attractions. You’ll find the Northern Pacific Depot Railroad Museum in Wallace, Idaho, and the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, in Missoula, which features some train artifacts. Additionally, the Isaac Walton Inn is a few hours north in Essex, Montana, and is housed in the old Great Northern railroad motel.”

Really cool info! Thank you

 

[PapaDave]

This trip is next Saturday! @Ebbs will be there to lead, I have to move this coming weekend. Sunday the 11th we will still have our monthly meet up at Toys for Trucks 1-3pm. Bring a chair, we are going to be doing a tire repair clinic with hands on work with wired up tires.

have fun!

 

[Two Sheds]

Bummer , gonna miss you PD

 

[BlackToySteve]

Myself and @NWFJ are planning on it, with possibly one more. I just RSVP’d, Dale @NWFJ is gallivanting all over the country and will do it when he gets a chance.

 

[BlackToySteve]

I’ll have my two girls with me, they are 4 & 7. We’ll be loaded with kiddie snacks in the newly acquired Snomaster if anybody else has small people along.

 

[Mountain Goat Nomad]

Being a Brand New OB member, joined less than 10 days ago, I really want to do this one day trip. I will be driving all day today on I-90 and hope to overnight in Wallace or Coeur d'Lane. I think I read PapaDave is moving this weekend, so another member will be leading? I'd be greatful if they would reach out today if possible. Looking forward to meeting a few members/attendees.

 

[Mountaintrails71]

If you are looking for dispersed camping areas? There is a ton of that North of I90 out of Kingston or CDA / Fernan area above the lake. I am not sure if I will be going Saturday but if you end up needing help? I know all the roads and trails very well in that area. The route also only shows to Avery. I am not sure the plan from that but I see you are from Montana and you can head East towards Saint Regis or camp at Diamond Lake

 

[Mountain Goat Nomad]

If you are looking for dispersed camping areas? There is a ton of that North of I90 out of Kingston or CDA / Fernan area above the lake. I am not sure if I will be going Saturday but if you end up needing help? I know all the roads and trails very well in that area. The route also only shows to Avery. I am not sure the plan free that but I see you are from Montana and you can head East towards Saint Regis or camp at Diamond Lake

I will need to camp/park overnight somewhere close to Coeur d'Alene or Wallace. So I very much appreciate the information. Going on the fly at the last minute is not the best plan, but very few opportunities seem available for rallys in our region, and since this one was listed as EASY - this fit the bill for my skill level.