Crew Of First Royal City Train

Photograph by Wade Stevenson; courtesy of the Othello Community Museum.

This is the crew of the first official train to operate on the Royal City Spur. From left to right are Linton Shaw (traveling engineer), Dick Donley, Dick Nelson, Ernie Knott, and Bob Camp, dressed for his job of union representative. Mr. Camp’s presence was to be the arbitrator between enforcing the union rules and the company, who tried to disallow extra time that trainmen claimed for, among other things, unusual things that happened during a trip, such as being the first train on the line.

Bad Washout Ties Up Railroad Traffic

From the "Spokesman Review."

March 16, 1938

From the "Spokane Chronicle."

March 12, 1938

GN Trains Now Going Through

From the "Spokesman Review."

February 22, 1902

See this location as it looks today here.

Railway Bows To Flood Havoc

From the "Spokesman Review."

March 15, 1938

See this location as it looks today here.

Oriental Limited Jump The Tracks

From the "Leavenworth Echo."

January 28, 1910

1979 Packard

Photograph by J. Foust; courtesy of the Othello Community Museum.

The train to Marcellus has stopped at Packard to perform some switching in May 1979. Packard had once been a small but bustling town, but two grain elevator fires, the first in 1921 and the second in 1946, really slowed down the vitality of the town.

A Great Northern Bridge Completely Burned Up

I've edited this posting to use a more local paper, which ran a longer story. A few of you have pointed out that the description of the trestle better fits the one in Lynch Coulee, between Trinidad and Crater.

From the "Spokane Chronicle"

July 3, 1893

"Watson Creek" is actually Wilson Creek.

From "The Morning Call."

July 4, 1893

Coulee Railroad To End Career

From the "Spokesman Review."

January 24, 1950

57,500 Carloads Hauled To Dam

From the "Spokesman Review."

December 19, 1941