Idaho
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Beginning of 20 mile ride |
Ready for the first tunnel - 44 degrees inside |
Yes, that long!! |
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Beautiful scenery! |
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The trail below. |
Aren't we cute?! |
Hoping for a handout! |
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One of 7 high trestles. |
Another tunnel - out of 10 |
Part of electric train structure |
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Looking down from trestle - 220 ft. |
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Lake Coeur d'Alene |
Entertainment - Skipper and Gilligan |
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Juliana and the Jukebox Junkies - Song about Texas Highway Patrol |
This bike ride follows the original rail bed of the Milwaukee Railroad that ran from Milwaukee to the west coast. The construction of this portion of the rail line began in 1906 and was an amazing feat with the 10 tunnels that had to be built and the 7 trestles needed to span the valleys. The rail company went bankrupt in 1977 and the bike trail was opened in 1998. The trail begins in Montana and half way through the first long, cold, tunnel, you enter the state of Idaho. The ride from the top drops about 1,000 ft to the end point in Pearson, ID.
The railroad was an electric train and some of the original wooden structures that held the power lines above the trains can be seen above some of the trestles. There was a major electrical substation on the Montana end that changed the AC current generated in Missoula to DC current to power the trains.
One of the type of electric locamotives that was used was called the "Little Joe's". These engines were originally built for Russia and Joseph Stalin, but they were embargoed by the government as part of the beginning of the "cold war" and were later bought by the Milwaukee Railroad; therefore the nickname "Little Joe's".
This area was burned by a monumental fire in August, 1910. The fire burned 3 million acres, burning 8 billion board feet of timber and killed 86 people. Before it burned out, there were 10,000 firefighters working to contain it. Because of the extensive damage caused by the fire, the types of trees in the area was changed forever. The Forest Service has continually planted trees in the valleys for years. It was amazing to realize that most of the trees we were seeing were almost 100 years old .