Milwaukee Road in Idaho - A Guide to Sites and Locations Revised and Expanded Second Edition

by Stanley Johnson 357 pages, 6" x 9". Paperback $19.95 ISBN 0-9723356-0-9

This revised and expanded guide, with 270 photos and over 40 maps, follows the historic Milwaukee Road in Idaho and is of interest to the casual hiker, bicyclist, historian, railroad modeler, and railroad enthusiast. It provides up-to-date and extensive information about the Route of the Hiawatha Rail-Trail, both the east-west main line and all the branch lines including the railroad history of Coeur d'Alene, Rathdrum, Post Falls, St. Maries, Bovill, and Potlatch.

A great companion for a trip on the Route of the Hiawatha Rail-Trail it includes maps, locations and summaries of the interpretive signs, trail-use rules, locations of restroom and parking facilities. As well as information about public access to the long tunnel crossing the state line (Montana). Nowhere else is this detailed information available.

It contains specific data for locating tunnels, trestles, stations, sidings, historical event locations, and disaster sites. Historical explanations and first-hand descriptions obtained through on-site visits by the author, consultations with former Milwaukee railroaders, civil engineers, historians, pioneers and the descendants of many of those who worked on these right-of-ways bring life to these sites. Both famous and obscure sites are noted and described, places active right up to the time of the Milwaukee's demise, as well as those from the earliest days of the railroad. The book covers in detail the discovery and location of sites long a mystery including two missing tunnels, a mysterious concrete arch bridge, several old station sites, and the exact location of an historic old logging spur.

The book is designed to be a field guide for those who traverse any part of The Route of the Hiawatha that crosses Idaho. Topographic quadrangle map references, railroad milepost data, site elevations, geographical data, and trail and road locations are noted. Useful appendices include chronological notations, a resource bibliography, and an index.