Parts of Milwaukee Road woodchip cars, rebuilt from old rib-sided boxcars, still lives on today—donating their car sides long ago for an unique retaining wall built alongside the St. Maries River Railroad yard at St. Maries, Idaho, as seen on September 27, 2021. St. Maries was a crew change point on the non-electrified “gap” on Milwaukee Road’s Pacific Extension main line. Since Milwaukee Road retreated out of the west in 1980, St. Maries River Railroad is apparently following Milwaukee’s old slogan of “America’s Resourceful Railroad.” For 41 years and counting, it has operated five used locomotives bought from the Milwaukee Road!
