WSDOT Rebuilds Between Walulla and Dayton

So just how long have trains been running in Washington State? A quick check of Ask.com brings up the old NP Depot in Dayton that opened in 1881 and is now listed as the oldest surviving. But there isn't any list of who operated a railroad first in the Evergreen State. That said, how does the date 1875 grab you? While it might not be the oldest in the state, the line between Walulla and Walla Walla is still pretty stinkin' old.

The Washington State Department of Transportation - WSDOT - has scheduled a rebuild of this historic line. Check out all the maps etc at the WSDOT Site.

Northern Columbia Basin Railroad Project

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Here's a refreshing look at how rail and its multiple uses is treated in other parts of Washington. This is a big project, based in and around Moses Lake WA. The plan's focus is to attract rail-borne business to the area and to repair the otherwise deteriorating "physical plant" in use today. All key players - Grant County, Columbia Basin Railroad, BNSF, City of Moses Lake - all agree the project should move forward, which is something I'm not accustomed to seeing from where I sit in Western WA. "Out here on The Coast" - as it's referred to from the Inland Empire - one or two people can hold up an entire project like this, using litigious or otherwise irritating means for the sole purpose of getting their way. While some of the players in the Basin Project do differ in opinion on how the new lines should look, they all seem to want the same result. Breathe in, breathe out. Ahhhh...

Moses Lake was once a Northern Pacific town. It is now served by the Columbia Basin Railroad. It's also home to the ginormous Grant County International Airport, which is the former Larson Air Force Base closed by the military in the mid 1960s. A big portion of the railroad project would provide better track to GCIA for a container facility.

Of course, even in a place where everyone can at least agree that something should be done (unlike Seattle), there are differing opinions on where the trains should run. The "Citizens Option," which would have run trains away from town and over a former NP branch line, was brought up, researched by the State, and rejected as too difficult to acquire and build since there were many homes and roads already built on top of the abandoned right-of-way.

Check out the Port of Moses Lake's official page on the project; it has huge PDFs of maps etc. to give you an idea of what's needed and what's happening:

http://www.portofmoseslake.com/Northern%20Columbia%20Basin%20Railroad%20Project.htm

This will be one to watch, because when complete it allows Moses Lake to expand its reach in the region, providing jobs and products. Sounds like a win-win to me.