Pullman, Wash., railroad bridges require work before use

The train that ran on the railway between Pullman and Colfax, Wash., on the morning of Sept. 2 may have been the last, The Daily Evergreen reports.

The railroad is currently
unused, but there are several options for its future. It could reopen for shipping,
be turned into a trail or the land could be returned to the original owners.

On Sept. 2, a group ran
tests on some of the railway bridges between Pullman and Colfax. Two
locomotives, weighing 0.5 million pounds total, were driven over the bridges.

Senior civil engineering
major Michael Bjork worked on the project.

"We kept our eyes open
for any discrepancies," he said.

Half an inch of movement
in the bridge is not a big deal, but in one or more of the bridges, they saw
movement of one inch, he said.

Bjork became involved in
the study through Stan Patterson, president of Washington and Idaho Railways,
Inc. Patterson said the study differed from previous studies in that it did not
focus on the Risbeck bridge between Pullman and Colfax. The Risbeck bridge
burned in 2006, rendering that track unusable, according to the Washington State
Department of Transportation Website.

Patterson said the group
concluded that other bridges in the line will require work but will not need to
be completely replaced if the railway is to reopen for shipping.

Historically, the biggest
customer of the railway system has been WSU, Patterson said.

"It has always been a
huge plus for Pullman," he said. "Just because it’s not profitable today
doesn’t mean it couldn’t be if the barges on the river went away.

Patterson said he thinks
the main issue pertaining to whether or not to keep the railway open is keeping
rates low for customers.

Currently, all shipping
done by train is out of Spokane through BNSF, Patterson said. If the railway
between Pullman and Colfax reopened for shipping, customers of the railway
would also have the option of Union Pacific railway services, and the cost of shipping
would become competitive.

Until a couple of weeks
ago, the railway was used to store railroad cars. Patterson said all the
revenue generated from the storage was put back into the railway for
maintenance if it reopens. He said his interests lie with the railway staying
in service, but ultimately it is not his decision.

"I’m just a guy that
lives in the house down the street," he said.

Patterson said the
railroad could be restored, abandoned and given back to landowners or turned
into a trail through the Rails-to-Trails program. He said one of the three
groups potentially involved will have to step forward and make a plan, but
something needs to happen with the railway.