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Reviews
| White Pine Route: The History of the Washington, Idaho, and Montana Railway Company. By Thomas E. Burg. Coeur d'Alene: Museum of North Idaho, 2003. x+390 pp., numerous illus., maps, tables, bibl., index. $49.95 hb (ISBN 0-9643647-8-6).
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In the preface, Thomas Burg identifies himself as both a model railroader and railroad historian. Not surprisingly, he divides the book into two sections. Part I (230 pp., 15 ch.) is a chronological history of the railroad. Part II, Nuts and Bolts (120 pp., 3 ch.), is so entitled because "Many railfans [sic] treasure every nut, bolt and rivet of railroad equipment and trackside facilities ..." (p. 231). Rail fans and modelers will not be disappointed. Part II addresses rolling stock, physical plant, and rail logging operations, respectively. The book finishes with a seven-page equipment roster, plus bibliography and index.
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1
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The first four chapters of the chronological history section set the scene with descriptions of the area and the economic and business considerations that called for such a railroad as this, including the arrival of the Milwaukee Road Pacific extension. One of these chapters is devoted to the Potlatch Lumber Company. Although the author thinks of the Washington, Idaho, and Montana (WI&M) as more than merely a logging railroad, it was, nonetheless, essentially a logging railroad. Chapters 5 to 7 cover the construction from 1905 to 1907. The following chapters continue the story through world wars and the depression as well as the period when it was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Milwaukee Road (and then the Burlington Northern), down to its present existence as part of a short-line conglomerate.
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2
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The company owned about 400 freight cars during its most active years. Of course, the vast majority were log cars or flat cars, but a few of the flat cars were converted to boxcars, stockcars, or gondolas (a couple for coal service). The company also had a few tank cars, a couple of wood rack cars (for local delivery of firewood), and, later, some special boxcars for delivery of Pres-to-logs. A sidebar in Part I elaborates on the development and use of Pres-to-logs. They were made from chips and sawdust, which were bound together under heat and pressure without additives and kept together simply by the natural resins in the wood. Among other customers, the Milwaukee Road used Pres-to-logs in cabooses, stations, and water-tank heaters as well as in the dining cars on the Olympian—about 120 logs each run to cook 14 meals. It made the supply department happy too. Pres-to-logs can be kept in the warehouse, rather than needing special handling like other fuels.
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3
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Although the WI&M was a common carrier, most of the equipment rarely strayed off line. Right after WW II, a few of the boxcars (not fully in compliance with interchange standards) were granted waivers, so the Milwaukee Road could run them through for deliveries to Seattle. Very few cars were in revenue service; most were in company service delivering logs to sawmills or distributing company supplies and fuel.
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4
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Two coaches and two combines (one of each from Pullman, 51 ft.; and ACF, 60 ft.) were acquired early; the coaches lasted into the 1930s until superseded by a company-built motor railcar. In 1938 this railcar was replaced by the world's smallest streamlined, named train, The Potlatch, a railcar built especially for the WI&M by Fairmont Railway Motors. It seated 12 passengers and had a rear baggage/mail/express compartment that even included a box under the floor to haul iced fish. The company name was completely spelled out over the windows, and the train name appeared in script under the windows, but the patrons continued to call it "The Bug," as they had the previous home-built railcars.
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5
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Before the advent of the self-propelled railcar, WI&M's daily passenger train consisted of one or both coaches and one of the combines. The daily freight hauled the other combine, thus making it a mixed train daily (just like the title of the Lucius Beebe classic book) until the early 1930s, when the combine was only added three times weekly (the home-built railcar ran the other three days, so service continued to be available each day; apparently no service on Sundays). When The Potlatch came into service, the combines ran much less frequently, although one was still used occasionally into the 1950s.
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6
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The physical plant is well documented with narrative, photos, track plans, and drawings. One of the latter details the baggage/express elevator used to transfer items between the WI&M and Inland Empire trains at their grade-separated crossing in the town of Palouse.
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7
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The book is well illustrated throughout with black and white photos and maps. Reproduction is very good; the paper is 70-pound Ultra Litho Gloss. Typography, layout, and editing are all first-rate. The book succeeds on several levels. It is a scholarly (but not pedantic) business and operational history of a representative (although unique) short line. At the same time, it is a very interesting rail fan piece with plenty of trackside action. It is also a useful modeling guide with plenty of detail on the plant and equipment. Industrial archaeologists will be especially pleased with the chapter on rail logging operations, which provides a worthy overview of the many techniques used to get logs to the mill. The core of the line was well built as a common carrier right from the start, with steeper temporary branches up stream valleys being served by geared logging locomotives. At the ends of the branches, skidders extended the railroad's reach for up to another mile. Horses, tractors, chutes, aerial tramways, steam and electric donkeys, and other means were also used.
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8
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The index is extensive and well done. I used it successfully to find the details on the Pres-to-logs. The bibliography, too, is useful and shows the impressive amount of research behind this book.
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9
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| White Pine Route is clearly a work of love, tempered by the academic discipline gained by the author as a graduate student at the University of Idaho in the early 1960s. I recommend the book without hesitation; it is suitable for rail fans, modelers, and historians as well as industrial archaeologists. |
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