The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1913-04-17
Why THE MILWAUKEE RAILROAD MAY
BUILD IN AND THROUGH COEUR O'ALENEe
CONNECTING BETWEEN MAIN LINE AND
coEuR DALENE WOULD
RUN.

Railroad transportation Is 50 cloSeis
allied to mining and general business
in the Occur d'Alenes that anything
new in the line Of additional con-
struction Is always Of intense inter-
est. In fact, cheap transportation
from the Occur d'Alene mines to the
smelling points is the one thing abso-
lutely necessary to profitable mining
here The railroads reach the mills
the time 1t is broken by the powder
is often never touched by shovel in
its various handling in reaching a
smelter maybe 1000 miles away. Every
use Of gravity and automatic handl-
ing Is made and actual lifting of ore
by shovel is reduced to q minimum.
The camp is fairly well supplied with
railroads, but 1t always wants more,
and so It will always be-
Why the St. Joe Route.
1t has always been matter OF some
wonder and comment during the con-
struction of the Milwaukee railroad
why when practically at the head Of
the st. Joe and the South Fork of the
Coeur d'Alene river 1t chose the for
mer route across Idaho and passed up
the mining district route, now furnish
ing railroad business nearly to the ex-
tent of half a million dollars month
There are reasons, of course. There
are two railroads here and the Mil
waukee could only expect share of
the business. Then again 1t is possi-
BILE the great Milwaukee system does
not reach as many big smelling points
as the two roads now here. Another
reason is that the Milwaukee's sys-
tenn in the middle western states fur
njshes a great lumber market. Its
route down the st. Joe and branches
from it taps the greatest timber in the
west
Intention to Reach Mines.
Whatever may be the reason for not
adopting the Occur d'Alene route Ill
the beginning, there has been more or
less evidence at times that the Mil
waukee intended eventually to enter
the mining district.
There is a mountain divide between
the st. Joe and the South Fork OF the
Occur d'Alene river. For logging par-
poses the railroad has built seVerai
branches or is building them up 81.
Joe tributaries heading in this dlrec-
ton. notably up Big creek and toward
wallace from Falcon. Every time
work of this kind is started there are
willing believers that 1t means getting
over the divide and reaching our
mines.
Big Creek Branch.
when the Big creek branch from
Herrick there was reason to belleVe
that the road might be put over or
through the mountain and down Pine
creek. Undoubtedly the route was IN
vestigated and it had a great freight
nroflucing business both for mineral.
lumber and timber
The Line From Falcon.
Then the Falcon logging road was
begun in grading. 1t will come to
point just over the divide from the
head Of the east fork of Placer creek,
probably not over 10 miles from wal
lace.
This route into the Occur d'Alenes
was considered very favorable. The
Placer creek divide is said to be the
lowest Of all and the route down the
creek not at all difficult for a railroad.
The timber here, too, would also be
an important business factor.
OF course. these logging roads, ac-
cordinR to reports. were being built
on main line grade and the work was
as good and permanent as II intended
for that purpose"
Either of these proposed lines wouid
tap only u portion of the Occur
d'Alenes without additional feeders.
What a Connecting Link Might Be.
The talked Of route out to the Mil
Yankees line now having it's termin-
us at Occur d'Alene will be detailed
later in this story. The entire line
from the ST. Joe river or from the
main line of the Milwaukee further