2009-05-23 #03 Lewiston ID Speeder trip - Almota to Riparia Wye

Описание: This video begins with arriving at Almota (MP 35) for a very brief stop to chat with some maintenance crews. On the right side of the tracks you can see an old speeder shed and an old water tower. In the 1950's Almota was a town of about 40 people. Up until 1940 a ferry crossed the Snake River here. Seconds later after stopping we are on our way westward to Riparia.

Next we pass a long string of tank cars at Central Ferry at milepost 15.3. Here, on the right side again you can see an old speeder shed. Until the highway bridge across the Snake was constructed, again the area had a ferry for vehicle traffic. Why Central Ferry? With Lyon's Ferry to the west and Almota Ferry to the east, Central Ferry became the name.

About half way through this video we pass by Little Goose Dam. The Little Goose dam consists of a 8 spillways, powerhouse with six 135,000 KW alternators, navigation lock that is 86 x 668 feet, and two fish ladders. The water height difference between the backwater and font side of the dam is approximately 98 feet.

Finally, we arrive at Riparia. The name Riparia comes from the Latin word 'riparius', referring to a river bank. Maps from 1891 and 1906 refer to this location as Texas City and Texas Ferry. Then in 1907 the name was changed again to Lewiston Junction, and changed again in 1911 to Riparia.

Riparia is the interchange point between the Great Northwest Railroad (WATCO) and Union Pacific and is located at GNR MP 0.0 (UP MP 10.4) about 74 rail miles from Lewiston. Here we take the switch to the wye and stop a few hundred feet perpendicular to the Snake river and break our speeder 'train' in three sections to make the return trip back to Lewiston without having to manually turn our speeders around.

Special thanks to Jim Morefield forproviding some historical and technical data printed here.