Exactly 20 years ago today, 10/4/1996, the train crew of Camas Prairie train 63606 is approximately 6 hours into their day. At Cottonwood, the crew set out some grain hoppers and ran around their ballast loads. They are now ready to dump ballast South of Cottonwood, shoving the loads yet bringing their train with them. In a mile they will cut away from the train on the mainline and dump ballast for the MOW crew who is now awaiting the train's arrival. This is classic PNW branchline railroading at its best, with one train every few days. The Camas Prairie Railroad was a jointly owned and operated railroad between UP and BN, until it was sold to a shortline in 1998. This stretch of the railroad is now gone - all of the rail has been removed.
