Dale Jones 92 pages softcover
This book
contains over 125 images almost exclusively from the Great Northern
Spokane Division. The line from Troy, Montana to Spokane [Hillyard] generally comprised the Spokane Division, but for years was included in the Kalispell Division. The line along the rimrocks above Riverside State Park west of Fort Wright bounced in and out of the Spokane and Cascade Divisions.
The transformation of the railway landscape around Spokane began in March 1970,with the Burlington Northern merger, next was the introduction of Amtrak in May 1971and perhaps the most
significant change in the early 1970s was the demolition of the Great
Northern and Union Pacific stations in downtown Spokane to make way for the boondoggle called Expo74. Included in the book are
photographs from 1971/72 Latah Creek Bridge connection to the former GN
mainline near Lyons. The final blow to the Great Northern mainline
happened in April 1984 when the segment from Dean to Newport through
Scotia Canyon was abandoned, severing forever Jim Hill’s
transcontinental line completed in 1893.
The author was on hand and photographed the very last revenue trains on both the
Riverside State Park and Scotia Canyon lines. The author digitized his entire
collection of black & white negatives as the foundation for this
book. This book is printed in black and white as a bittersweet testament
to The Great Northern Railway – Spokane Division. 