Spokane to points East 2MT

[ctclibby]

Hi All
Got to thinking about it. I was assuming that BNSF would double-track as much as they could into Whitefish. Flathead Tunnel is the main problem, with the Kootenai River Canyon between Crossport ( Bonners Ferry ) to Yakt ( West of Troy ) being the other. So:
Since the main splits at Sandpoint to the MRL, how far are they planning to double-track the main from Spokane? Is it going to continue East on the Kootenai Sub? Most is done with a couple of exceptions: Long Bridge; Sandpoint which is in the works. What is the plan for the Spokane River crossing just east of Pines Road in Spo Valley?

Went by Sandpoint earlier today. Looks like they have 2 or 3 bents in the water on the East side. They are lower than the current main, so I don't know if this is the finished elevation or that they are gonna build it up a bit more.

todh

 

[Bill Anderson]

I have often thought that is was very short-sighted of BN to abandon the main lines of former GN mainline between Newport and Spokane and the SP&S between Cheney and the Tri-Cities.
The two lines were in very good shape at the time of the merger with passenger trains running on both of them. The grade profile of the SP&S mainline was much better than that of the NP.