Peter

Royal City Revisited

After a disastrous attempt to ride this unique little railroad during the

Northwest Odyssey Tour, John and I were recently successful in descending the grade to where it originally joined the Milwaukee Railroad.

- Peter Hoffman -

This vantage point is just below the rim of the plains where the railroad

begins its descent into the canyon.  The right-of-way can be seen below

just above the roadway.

The right-of-way makes a huge horseshoe bend in the middle of its steepest grade.  Thousands of tons of rock were used to build up the

embankment for the turn (visible above the bike).  Beyond the railroad a

embankment the shallow lakes are in the Columbia Wildlife Refuge.

The rails were excellent

and the roadbed clear

until we reached the

the bottom of the canyon.

Here we had to dismount often

to cut back dangerously thorny Hawthorn trees.

The Sagebrush was almost

impassable for the last half mile.

The large thick branches were

laying across the rails which neither

front guides or outriggers could cross.

End of the line (right).

My bike sits on the old

Milwaukee main line

while the Royal City line crosses Crab Creek

in the background and swings in

to make the junction

(its rails can be seen just behind the bike).

At left, this lonesome shed and 100 yards of rail are

all that's left of the Milwaukee toward the west.  The

rails are still in place to the east for 21 miles into Othello.  A portion of this line was ridden on the

Northwest Odyssey Tour, Murphy's Law on the Milwaukee Road.

Peter

Peter

Peter

Peter

Peter

John

John

    The Royal City Railroad is only

4.5 miles long, but may have one of the steepest grades in the entire country.  I've been unsuccessful in learning anything

definite about the line, as the Royal City Government has not responded to my inquiries.   So

what I say here is only from bits

and pieces of information picked

up along the way.

    The line was built by Royal City (also known as the Port of Royal City)  to connect with the Milwaukee Road mainline which ran through the canyon below.   Royal City expected to become the hub of grain shipments and other agricultural products produced on the surrounding prairies.

    Not long after the completion

of the line, the Milwaukee went

belly-up and it's rails were pulled across the continent.  A 21 mile

segment was left between the

junction of the Royal City Railroad and the community of Othello, where rail connections still exist.  After the demise of the Milwaukee, I don't know if Royal

City ever operated trains into Othello.  The City owned one

diesel locomotive which sits

rusting to this day along the top

of the coulee.

    Building the line required a huge embankment to be built which forms the better part of an immense horseshoe curve.  The construction of the railroad was very expensive on a mile to mile basis considering it's short length.

    At the top of the grade the weeds

are intense and a sharp thorned bush much like a child's jack, with one point always pointing up, made

setting on the rails very tricky.  It was these thorns which we were not aware of during the Northwest

Odyssey that flattened many tires before we had a change to ride.  The rails and roadbed are still

in good condition.  But at the bottom of the grade Hawthorn trees are taking over along the sides of the

track and we spent much time cutting back branches to pass.  The last mile before the junction with the

Milwaukee Road was heavily overgrown with Sage Brush with heavy trunks laying across the rails.

    The old Milwaukee line is in much worse condition and becoming impassable.  The Sage Brush

has taken over in the lower reaches of the canyon, and rock slides are covering the tracks in several

locations.  Even though the Royal City line is short, it's a unique ride, and a challenge to ride down

and back up the grade to your starting point.