Could also be something just as simple as letting everything settle in the sub roadbed?
I could get on board with that. But why would they put a temporary steel bridge over the river so they can drive cranes and other equipment over the river to do the bridge work and then remove it all without doing any of the actual work. They have not put any permanent bridge supports in. And again if this was just a routine part of the project, why wouldn’t they have clued the city in so they could schedule with them for the grade separation project? Its the abrupt stop and tight lips that have me and my friends at the city baffled.
Since the project is being pushed into the future, maybe they need the equipment for other projects, and don’t want the temporary bridge to get damaged in any potential spring runoff.
all great theories. I wish we knew. Curiosity is a cat killer. It means nothing to me other than it just bugs me that I don’t know.
I know here on the westside of the state lots of construction projects get delayed for salmon migration season (fall) and then fry releases in the spring.
Is the Spokane River a salmon river?
Nope. Salmon can’t get passed Grand Coulee. And even historically they couldn’t make it over the Spokane Falls. This is above the falls. So I don’t think there is or ever was a fish migration issue.
That’s what I thought as well. But just something that causes problems on this side.
I wonder if it has to do with the double track project(s) around Standpoint. I know they are both connected but maybe the Standpoint project(s) have more priority?
Does any of the BN projects relate to the freeway expansion projects going on in that area?
Got a link to the article?
Same one as the one Bob posted above. That is the only info I can find and even the city employees I talked to said that’s all they know also is what the article said. As for the Sandpoint section I believe its all done. I think from Sandpoint to the State Line is all double tracked now. I could be wrong but I think the only remaining piece is from Stateline to the Spokane River crossing.
There is some pretty substantial stuff that still needs to be accomplished and maybe that is what the hold up is. Right where I work is an overpass over the tracks and it is only wide enough for one track. But they have graded right up to it and the city is already starting the work to rip it out and put in a new over pass that will accommodate the double track.
I don’t know its baffling. Mostly because of the abrupt stoppage and little to no information being conveyed to the city on when they will resume.
I lied. On Google Earth there is still some single track in Rathdrum.
This ties into the Trains magazine article you and were talking about the other day, they had a big write up about fixing the “funnel” I will look at it again and see if any more info is available on it.
Quoting here” last segment of 4 miles from Irvin to just east of Spokane with a new bridge parallel to the 534 ‘ bridge built in 1911” and “Prelim grading done in 2020, full fledged work on the bridge and approaches began 4/2023, with a target completion mid 2025” from the current issue of Trains magazine
this is the Pend Oreille bridge
this is the bridge out of Spokane over Latah Creek
and this is the bridge over Spokane River, near Irving, Wa. No real help , but pictures of what your talking about, if that’s any help
I’ve heard of an EPA bunch that made a project take down a temp piling project that went over schedule and they had to do another “Study” and resubmit before being allowed to restart the work… about 10 months delay…
Strange thing happen with the EPA and navigable waters act get involved…
Just could be…
No doubt anything dealing with state / federal/ probably Tribal and Fish and wildlife , is bound to be full of loopholes
There’s still a bunch of single track north of Sandpoint until Boyer but you probably already know that. I think that’s the next major section to get double tracked.
Yeah I knew leaving Sandpoint headed east there was. I know the push at least as far as my area of the world was concerned was Sandpoint to Spokane.
Pete thanks for the pictures. The last one you posted is the existing bridge right next to where they are doing the new bridge.
Well after reading through this and considering Warren Buffet owns the railroad and probably the land. I’m convinced that the cause of the hang up is from the western bald headed mosquito or the bow legged deep throated sparrow once the EPA discovered BNSF invaded their territory!
Yeah the article says during busy times up to 60trains a day use the up til now single track bridge, and with more traffic from BNSF, UP, and POVA, so and I if I understand it , it’s a 25mph restricted speed , so you can see if it takes someone a while to cross things really need to move 2.5 trains an hour to keep things moving , which while mathematically works trains rarely move with that much precision as shown in this picture where 2 are sitting waiting on UP
Might as well show the flawed map, Devon’s house is not marked but it is close to Huetter. Devon’s feelings we slightly injured that his trackage isn’t shown !
For anyone that might actually care I do live on that map. Between grand junction and Huetter. Which is sorta funny to me because neither grand jct or Huetter are really towns or even locations but Post Falls has about 30,000 residents. Grand junction does have an interesting history. At least into the 70s UP and NP/BN/BNSF and Milwaukee road all crossed each other there. One depot served all three.
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Devon’s Dad loves up close between Sandpoint Jct and Boyer…
This is where I grew to love trains at my great uncle’s place just RR W of Boyer. About every 20-30 minutes a train rolls by. Just past his driveway was a EB intermediate signal, and look west and you could see the next intermediate signal. Just a tad further E was a track defect detector where I learned to listen to the RR scanner.
Worse case if I was in the house, I’d hear them blow for either public crossing and run up the driveway. I’ve got some old pictures of my kids doing the same thing I did!
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Here’s my two kids and nephew in 2019 right before my great uncle sold his place (his stash of plastic continues to contribute to my modeling including this years MIK).
A month later my Dad and I flew in for the last time at Olmstead Sky Ranch and I got one last opportunity to return to my childhood. At one point between my grandparents and great uncles they owned pretty much every lot between the RR tracks and the highway and a few huge parcels on the other side.
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