Brian, what was the function or use of that gray building next to the signal? I'm thinking the brown and cream building behind it was a depot, perhaps? Excellent photo of a bygone era. Does any of this remain extant today?
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the pickup really gives you an idea of just how huge the substation was and yet it too seems small in the context of the mountains
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Jonathan, the building adjacent to the train order signal may have been the local section shack or other support building for the MILW. The larger building behind is the depot and was used as the station agent's office, beanery, and passenger waiting area back in the day. The depot is still standing and is on the National Register of Historic Places and houses the local post office. Sadly, nothing remains of the yard or substation.
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If I had not seen the parked rail cars in this photo, I would have thought the shutdown had already occurred. Not to be negative, but the mainline looks as bad as many branch lines I have seen in their final days. With all the slow orders in place at this time, it must have took days and days to get from Tacoma to Chicago. Tough to see the end of what was once a brave and hard fought attempt at rail expansion.
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| Posted by SES on March 14, 2021 | |
Wow! Didn't know things looked that bad by 1979. However, I believe that since Avery was no longer the western end of the Montana electrification, I believe they decided to make St Maries, just a few miles to the west, a crew change point. So by this time, the shops and yard were most likely deemed unnecessary. I know the Milwaukee made a habit of removing unnecessary track even at this time to try to recoup a little salvage cash. When the St Maries River RR started operations, they ran log trains out of Avery to St Maries for only a couple of years. The US Forest service got in a big tiff about wanting the area around Avery. After several months of fighting, the railroad just shut down the old mainline and cut service back to St Maries and pulled up the track between those 2 points. Turns out the government's interest was to turn it all into a park. Today, a highway runs into Avery where the rail yard once was. Busses can take passengers a fair distance up the old pathway of the Milwaukee Road thru the Bitteroots. The rest of the trek to the West portal of the St Paul Pass tunnel has to be done on bicycle or by foot. Along with the depot, I believe the substation still stands. The highway now is where all the track once was. I believe there is also a passenger car and Milwaukee caboose on display by the depot.
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| Posted by Nuc on October 18, 2021 | |
Substation 14 is gone. I don't have the date, but it was not long after abandonment.
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