Railroad Tunnels

The climb was the problem. Between Culdesac and Reubens the line wound up Lapwai Canyon, looped back north and climbed out through Rock Creek canyon, some 2,000 feet at a 3 percent grade, and every one of its seven tunnels and its largest timber trestles lie on that stretch; the Half Moon trestle alone was 685 feet long and 141 high. The two rival companies pooled the line under a 999-year agreement. Passenger service ended on February 28, 1966, and a trestle that burned in September 2011 left the canyon track abandoned.

What the plaque says

Railroad Tunnels Seven tunnels-one a horseshoe more than a quarter mile long--had to be blasted in this canyon so that a railroad could be completed to Grangeville in 1908. Building a railroad up this canyon was exceptionally difficult and expensive. Although they competed in Lewiston, Union Pacific and Northern Pacific officials decided to organize a separate company, in which each of them had an equal interest, to complete a Camas Prairie line. Otherwise, neither would have had enough traffic to operate profitably. 419 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spalding — 13 mi
  The Nimiipuu went to St. Louis asking about a book. What came back was a mission, a printing press and a museum.

More markers nearby

• St. Joseph's Mission — 6.6 mi
• William Craig — 8.4 mi
• Craigmont — 9.5 mi
• Lapwai Mission — 11 mi