St. Maries River Railroad

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St. Maries River Railroad Overview

The St. Maries River Railroad is a shortline Class III railroad that operates 71 miles of trackage in northern Idaho. From 1980 until 2010, it was a subsidiary of Potlatch Corp.

The St. Maries River Railroad began service on May 23, 1980, over trackage that previously had been owned by the then bankrupt Milwaukee Road.

The STMA mainly operates between Plummer, Idaho and St. Maries, Idaho on what was the Milwaukee Road's Pacific Northwest main line across the Rockies. The railroad also operated on the Milwaukee Road's former Elk River branch line between St. Maries and Bovill, Idaho.

For several years from 1980 until the mid-1980s, Potlatch also owned and operated 45 miles of adjoining former Milwaukee Road trackage, between St. Maries and Avery, Idaho, as a private logging railroad that connected with the St. Maries River Railroad. The federal government condemned the logging line between St. Maries and Avery in the mid-1980s, prompting its shutdown.

In 2010, Potlatch sold the St. Maries River Railroad for $1.6 million to Mike Williams of the Missouri-based Williams Group, which owns other short line railroads in Idaho, Missouri and South Dakota under the corporate name MidWest Pacific Rail Net & Logistics, including the BG&CM Railroad.

Presently the line to Bovill, ID is no longer in service as the connecting Washington and Idaho Railway line has been abandoned between Bovill and Harvard, ID.

STMA interchanges with Union Pacific at Plummer.

St. Maries River Railroad Locomotives

Number Model Year Built History Notes
STMA 37 SD38 1969 Ex-DSRC 37/MCR 37/MR 37. OOS.
STMA 101 GP9 1959 Ex-MILW 292. Operable.
STMA 102 GP9 1959 Ex-MILW 301 OOS?
STMA 103 GP9 1959 Ex-MILW 322 Operable.
STMA 501 SW1200 1954 Ex-MILW 612 Operable.
STMA 502 SW1200 1954 Ex-MILW 618 Operable.

St. Maries River Railroad Customers

Customer Location Company Description Type of Railcar Notes
PotlatchDeltic St. Maries Plywood Products Centerbeam Flatcars/Boxcars
Stimson Lumber St. Maries Lumber Mill Centerbeam Flatcars
STMA Railcar Repair St. Maries Railcar Repair Shops Various


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