Big Train out of Oakesdale last week

Last Tuesday (December 9, 2008) we got a chance to see what Stan Patterson, the W&I, BNSF and the state have been working on for over 2 years. The W&I had been negotiating with BN since Sept 2007 to pull a longer train to Oakesdale (the usual grain trains have been 26 cars for the past couple of years).

Stan was determined to get some publicity for the momentous event, so some TV stations and newspapers lined the track along with several of the locals. It was a party mood as Jeremy Leiterman led the string of four BN locomotives, dropping off 43 cars at Spangle, 11 at Plaza and 56 at Oakesdale. Jeremy admitted that he enjoyed having that much power under his control, but the 6500-foot train wasn't the longest he'd ever pulled. 7500 feet was his record.

As the day wore on, Co-Ag employees raced the clock, with a tight deadline to meet. The 110-car train was to be back at Marshall on a 24-hour turnaround, with the cars of soft white wheat headed utlimately to Portland and onto the export market.

By the following day, Co-Ag general manager Jackie Tee reported that the trial run had come off without a hitch. The co-load experiment had been a success and there is hope for more long grain trains in the future. Hats off to Stan and Jeremy for their perseverance!

BENX Car Gets Its Facelift

Ambitious past HPG president Jim West made good on his promise to apply elbow grease to the BENX car to get the new paint job done before winter. No doubt Don Somers and Jack Coyner found him to be a slave driver (see photo above) as the three fiddled with stencils, cutouts and the like as they endeavored to restore the car to its original livery. The outcome, however, is worth the effort!

Thanks to Nathan Vowels, the car was power-washed earlier, then Rez Painting of Moscow kicked in a generous reduction in rate to apply the basic blue, and Columbia Paint sold the $70/gallon paint at a good discount. Thank you, local businesses! And thank you Potlatch Recreation District for some of the seed money to get the venture started. Rec funds repaired the doors, with the HPG doing its share by selling T-shirts and scale models of the car. Most of all, thank you Frank Bennett for once again being generous in the community!

As to some background, the 56-foot BENX 182 is the last Thrall-Door car of over 180 boxcars that previously belonged to Bennett Lumber Products, which once ran the largest fleet of privately-owned boxcars in the state (the company also had 37 A-frame bulkhead flatcars in its fleet). The car was sidelined in 1992 when Bennett retired the fleet. Because the doors no longer worked properly, the car was rendered unfit to travel over the rails. Thus, it was banished to the side of the depot, where it sat idle and neglected for years. In 2000, Jim and fellow HPG member Tom Burg brain-stormed that the car would make a great portable stage. Jim, being a musician and member of the bluegrass band Two Dollar Bills, fantasized that the blue car would indeed be a great venue. They approached Frank Bennett with the novel idea.

Once Bennett sold the boxcar to the HPG for $1, plans quickly derailed for its restoration due to the more pressing project of restoring the depot. Yet Jim never forgot his promise to Frank Bennett to bring the BENX back to life. Frank Bennett showed his enthusiasm by donating some 55 percent of the funds for restoration. HPG has so far kicked in over 60 hours of volunteer labor to show the organization's good faith.

Of course the boxcar has already provided a stage for the bluegrass concerts that go hand-in-hand with the highly successful speeder event each year. And now that Troy High School has donated its blue velvet theater curtains to the HPG, plans are in line to hang them for a more complete stage look. Next comes a sound system. Jim hopes the venue will provide a good outlet for local talent such as up and coming garage bands and musical groups wanting a unique performing area to show off their skills.

Stay tuned....

More work.... this time with the boxcar

The Benx car has been painted solid blue and now the real work begins. Jim West, Don Somers and Jack Coyner worked with Rez Painting to prepare the stencils for repainting the Bennett logo, and if you think this is quick work, you are wrong. The guys spent all day Friday preparing...and today there is more of the same. Jim especially is sacrificing his time as he drove down from Coeur d'Alene and now has another day working on the project. But this is his baby because our favorite performer needs a stage. Jim has also rounded up theater curtains from Troy High School and the navy blue color should really match the Benx car once it is fully repainted. When this project is finished, Potlatch performers will have a rolling stage, ready for musical and theater performances. Great for a small community!

HPG Member Profiled in Local Press

HPG Vice-President Jack Coyner and the Depot were featured in the weekend edition of the Daily News, August 9-10. Nice article with three accompanying photos, and captions that mentioned the HPG. Thanks to reporter Mark Williams.

NEIGHBORS: Maintaining a heritage
Potlatch man helps preserve town's past
By Mark Williams, Daily News staff writer
Posted on: Saturday, August 09, 2008

As a young man growing up in rural West Virginia, Jack Coyner often dreamed that his future would lead him to the Pacific Northwest. Now he helps preserve the region's past.
Coyner, 64, is the current president of the Potlatch Historical Society, a group that not only chronicles the history of the former company town but also has recently worked to restore some of its historic structures.
"I guess I've always been interested in history, especially railroads. I just feel like it's really important," he said. "Especially in a town with a history like Potlatch. I just feel that to let it go is a big mistake."
Although Coyner has only been president since January, he has been a prominent member of the organization for its entire 10-year existence. Using bureaucratic experience gained from his 20-year career in the Forest Service, Coyner has put together much of the grant money the society has used for its projects, including the renovation of Potlatch City Hall and most recently the 102-year-old Washington, Idaho & Montana Railroad Company train depot.
"I guess of the things we've done, city hall and the depot are the ones I'm most proud of," he said. "A lot of grant money and a lot of people in the community pitched in to make those things happen."
Coyner said there is still much work left to do on the depot and hopes that eventually the building will be put to some sort of commercial use. But for now he is simply proud that the project has called people's attention to the history of the town and the building.
"I think it's helped people recognize their own history a little bit," he said. "When we first started working on this place we had an old-timer who said he'd help if we just gave him a can of gasoline and a book of matches. Now he's seen what we've done and recognized the value of it and is one our biggest supporters."
Coyner grew up in the rugged Appalachian coal mining country of Clover Lick, W.Va., near the Virginia border. As is typical of the region, Coyner said much of the area was poor with limited options for prosperity. He credits his love of the outdoors and the American West as a primary factor in his escape from a lifetime of coal mining.
"In an area like that back then, kids that graduated high school didn't have much else to turn to except coal mining. It's all old industry over there," he said. "I guess I was lucky that I saw beyond some of that.
"I always liked national forest lands and I saw on the map that out west was where they had the most of it and that's where I wanted to go."
Coyner has lived in Potlatch for more than 25 years after moving here from Kalispell, Mont., while working for the Forest Service and said he has become attached to the region.
"My wife and I sometimes have talked about going somewhere else and every time we think of places it always seems like it's hard to beat where we already are," he said.
Rather than move somewhere else, Coyner said he is content to do what he loves by helping Potlatch preserve its heritage.
"I like this because you just wonder what a town would look like if nobody cared or did anything," he said. "This gives you an opportunity to help."

Depot Serves as Town Welcome Mat

It is always amazing to see how many out-of-towners stop at the depot to look around. Some say the've been past the building before and can't believe how things have changed. Today Bob and Arlene McDonald of Tacoma pulled up, fresh from a Milwaukee Road gathering at Three Forks MT. They were touring other railroad sites and had heard about the depot restoration, so they decided to check things out for themselves. Thankfully HPG member Barb was on hand to give them a tour and when Bob saw the antique rail drill (donated by Joyce Gilmore) in the freight room, he got into detail about how he'd used one in his early track maintenance days. He said if ever Satan had a torture device in hell, it would be that drill! In the future, we can interview Bob further about it as we develop our displays. Arlene also liked the colorful old safety sign. Clearly the McDonalds enjoyed the depot and their appreciation makes all the effort worthwhile.

On a separate note, it was interesting to see the progress on the interiors, thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers. The group took out the kitchen, removed the bathroom and cabinets, and also took out most of the wall between the men's waiting room and the passageway to the vault and women's waiting room. Thank you volunteers!!!

More Action at the Depot

The speeder event, which furnished over 250 rides, ushered in a busy season at the depot. We had an encore weekend during Potlatch Days on July 19, with dozens of visitors checking out the displays in the freight room. Pictured above in front of some of the Potlatch Historical Society displays are Sue Benson (left) and Ida Courier, who gave a thumbs-up to the idea of a museum in the freight room. People lingered over pictures of old area schools, local veterans and other assorted memories, and several left with PHS items such as notecards, CD's and books. The book Company Town by Keith Petersen is no longer in print and PHS and HPG are both sold out on the popular book.

Potlatch Days also brought out a number of people after the parade, ready to sign on the dotted line to help with depot interior work. Happily Tom Cummings, a general contractor from Harvard, proved to be just the kind of volunteer we want and need. He's been busy assisting Don and Jack with removing plumbing, wiring and false ceilings. So far Tom has put in two days applying his professional expertise to the depot, and we can't thank him enough! That's Tom pictured working up a sweat upstairs as he bores into some walls to remove pipes. The work is dirty but necessary, and such community participation shows what the citizens can do to refurbish the 1906 depot.

Speeder Weekend Another Big Success

Thanks to Bill Taylor and the generous speeder group, there were 16 speeders on hand for the annual depot fundraiser, and that meant everyone got a chance to catch a speeder ride to either Kennedy Ford or Princeton. Ticket sales were brisk and a few ball players for the tournament at the adjacent baseball field even took a ride down the tracks. The pre-sale tickets had sold out and hourly excursions went out on time, thanks to the precision team of Don States and Roger Farrell who were back this year to manage the riders. Volunteers did a great job of maintaining safety at the track crossings, selling just the right amount of tickets, and mingling with the crowd. Potlatch Historical Society noted a great response to the displays in the freight room, making Bonnie Rohn more than a little excited about a new museum in the depot. What an amazing year since the depot was first jacked up for its facelift.

Speeders weren't the only game in town, and Jim West and Mabel Vogt kept the boxcar filled with good musicians all afternoon. Visitors like Harvard resident Porgie Knerr stayed most of the day, totally immersed in the music. Nothing like the Jammers and the Two Dollar Bills to keep a crowd happy. And for the hungry, Tyler Renz and the Potlatch Lions served up burgers and pork sandwiches all afternoon. Scout troop 358 did the cold drink detail, making the speeder weekend a truly community-based event!

Pictures from top to bottom: Dallace and Becky Kellom give their opion of the speeder ride.

Jim West and his crew from the Two Dollar Bills kept the audience in good music all afternoon.

Brian Magelky (foreground) and son Aaron kept the crossings safe for speeders.

Damian Kostuik (left) and Hal Van der Vord patrolled the depot crossing which was more congested than usual due to the Saturday morning dumpsite being open.