[Vision2020] Pullman Council Wants Train Idea on Track

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (September 9, 2009 - 9/9/9) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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Council wants train idea on track
City hears report on student-led project
By Hillary Hamm, Daily News staff writer

Posted on: Wednesday, September 09, 2009

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QUICKREAD

WHAT HAPPENED: The council heard a presentation from WSU instructor Bob
Scarfo on a concept to create a passenger railroad route on the Palouse.

WHAT IT MEANS: The concept is to cover 89 miles and make stops from Moscow
to Garfield to Rosalia to Spokane to bolster economic development.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: Scarfo and his students will continue to garner
interest from area community groups and municipalities.

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: The group needs ample community interest to get the
project started.

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Pullman City Councilman Keith Bloom believes every project has to start
somewhere.

And despite some people’s feelings that a college project to create a
passenger rail service on the Palouse is “wacky or out there,” Bloom
supports the idea that could boost commerce and travel in the area.

“The whole rail thing has a huge amount of benefit to the nation,” he
said. “I think this is a great first step to get people behind this.”

Bob Scarfo, a Washington State University-Spokane associate instructor
with the Interdisciplinary Design Institute, presented the council with a
project called “Powering the Palouse” on Tuesday.

The idea centers around a two-hour passenger car line covering 89 miles
with stops in eight communities including Moscow, Pullman, Palouse and
Spokane. He said it would be fun to revive train transport because it is
romantic, but the project is really about creating community hubs and
bolstering economic development and tourism.

At each stop along the line, Scarfo and his students propose businesses,
farmers markets, attractions and a place to rent a bicycle or electric
car.

Scarfo’s students have been working on individual projects for months,
including one to design a train station below the WSU steam plant that
would service the downtown and pedestrian and bicycle pathways. In
Rosalia, the idea is to convert an old flour mill into a train station and
commerce center.

Scarfo said the project is still entirely conceptual, and nothing has been
done to figure out costs or funding. He added that he’s been working some
with the Washington Grain Alliance to add passenger cars along with
freight transport, such as wheat or barley, to make the rail dual-purpose.

The train would have wi-fi access and could include business and passenger
cars and one for transport of small vehicles.

Scarfo added that the project is a long way off, since short-line rails
between Pullman and Spokane currently need significant upgrades to be able
to handle increase in traffic. Passenger and freight cars generally travel
at about 40 miles per hour while the lines currently only allow for
traffic below 30 miles per hour, he said.

Still, Scarfo said if the rails can be repaired and people can travel
quickly, “development’s going to blow open in these communities.” He will
be giving similar presentations to municipalities and community groups in
the coming months to create interest in the project.

“This will add to the resiliency to the towns and the region itself,” he
said. Whitman County Public Works Director Mark Storey said project
sounded interesting “to see what some creativity can do for those small
communities.”

Councilwoman Ann Heath agreed and said she’d love to take a ride.

“I certainly would love to jump on a train and go up to Spokane for a
weekend,” she said. “They would get business, and we certainly would too.”

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change
and the Realist adjusts his sails."

- Unknown