NP Naches(WA) Rail line news...

COUNTY TO BUY OLD NACHES RAIL LINE

Map here: [img.yakima-herald.com]

YAKIMA, WA -- A doubling of the Yakima Greenway Foundation pathway complex that includes its first foray outside the Yakima urban area will come closer to reality today.

Yakima County commissioners will buy the defunct Naches rail line as part of a plan to retain the corridor for possible future rail service while allowing, in the interim, trail use by the public.

Should a trail come to pass -- Greenway and elected officials are pushing for it -- the pathway system would stretch from its current southern terminus in Union Gap a distance of about 20 miles to Naches. Completing a pathway extension from 40th Avenue and Fruitvale Boulevard will require grants and could be several years away.

The $239,000 purchase using federal grant funds is contingent on clearing up hundreds of thousands of dollars in liens left over from a failed attempt to restore rail service.

The line's 11-mile corridor from near Fruitvale Boulevard and River Road to west of Naches has not carried a rail car for 10 years.

Resolving one landowner's concerns about the location of a portion of the line also could complicate the plan.

Bob Kershaw, president of Kershaw Sunnyside Ranches, favors relocating about a mile of line through the firm's orchard so the company can construct a distribution center at the rear of the Kershaw Fruit and Cold Storage packing and storage complex at Low Road and Highway 12.

Kershaw's ancestors granted a deed for the rail line through the orchard in 1905.

Kershaw, who is pursuing administrative and legal avenues, has offered property outside of his orchard to retain the corridor for both rail and trail.

Kershaw is renewing his request that the line be abandoned. The federal Surface Transportation Board, which oversees rail lines, denied the request in 2004.

The denial prompted a pending appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The board later granted a request that keeps the corridor viable and allows the interim trail use.

Kershaw agrees with the trail idea but still wants the rail line eliminated.

"A trail can exist on the property and we can have development," said Kevan Montoya, a Yakima attorney representing the firm. "A trail and jobs are good for Yakima County. The problem is we haven't had much cooperation up to this point."

County officials say they have been in negotiation with Kershaw. The firm's proposal, however, doesn't satisfy all the issues related to retaining the rail corridor.

The county is somewhat limited because it doesn't own the property until the purchase from Yakima Interurban Lines Association closes.

The nonprofit association, which obtained the line from the BNSF Railway Company in 1999, is out of business because of the failed rebuilding effort and the leftover financial problems.

County commission Chairman Mike Leita said Monday the county's interest is maintaining the option for rail service at some point in the future.

But the focus now is on a trail system that would expand the Greenway and provide links to the William O. Douglas trail that travels through Cowiche Canyon and west toward Mount Rainier.

"Until a rail line is needed to be re-established, there is a concerted effort to link the pathways," Leita said. "Pathways provide another opportunity for the community to enjoy and recreate."

Al Brown, executive director of the nonprofit Greenway, said his group is a proponent of extending the pathway along the Naches corridor.

"We have indicated to the county commissioners we are very interested in that if that is the direction they believe best suits the community. We want to be in a position to partner with the county and the cities to provide that." - David Lester, The Yakima Herald- Republic

 

Hi Bob,

This isn't the Yakima Valley Transportation route.

It's the old Natches line - NP then BNSF which Yakima Interurban Line bought as a possible new tourist trolley route.

YILA is defunct but Yakima Valley Transportation continues.

The route that YVT uses is the route that runs through the Selah Gap to Selah itself.

Thanks
Phil H

 

Hi Bob,

You are correct - the NP Depot at Natchez still survives.

http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2015/08/10/depot-idle-as-new-bids-accepted/

From this report it isn't in use at present - but at least it still stands.

Thanks
Phil H

 

Hi Bob, Sorry - I have both links saved and will post the correct one once I am on the home pc.

Thanks
Phil H

 

Yes, the Naches depot still stands along the ROW, restored and used as a town meeting space.