On the "Break Heart Pass" movie thread there was a question about the end of operations on the Camas Prairie Railroad line to Grangeville, Idaho, the setting for the movie. The last run to Grangeville was on November 28, 2000. Engines 2 and 3 left East Lewiston that morning. The crew set out 3 cars and engine 3 at Reubens at the top of the Prairie. Engine 2 then proceeded to Grangeville and picked up the last 4 covered hoppers and 3 empty tank cars, and ran to Cottonwood for the night. The next morning I went to the adjacent school and suggested to the principal to give the students a chance to see the last train ever to leave Cottonwood, but that idea was not taken up, and the final departure was only witnessed by a couple of rail fans. After picking up the last cars at Cottonwood, engine 2 ran to Reubens and assembled the final revenue run down Rock and Lapwai canyons with engine 3, the 3 cars brought up the day before, and 19 70-ton hopper loads of wheat for a 34 car train. A pretty respectable load for a last revenue run. The last runs, non-revenue, were a run to Ferdinand (between Craigmont and Cottonwood) with three empty flat cars to pick up bridge timbers. The flat cars remained at Ferdinand until November 2001 when a final light engine move was made to Ferdinand to pick up the 3 loads of bridge timbers. It is my understanding that the track has been removed from Grangeville to the Lawyers Canyon bridge near Craigmont, and that the spectacular Lapwai canyon route is intact except for one trestle that burned a number of years ago. Below are a few views from the fall of 2000.

A short train in Lapwai Canyon as seen from above the Half Moon Trestle, which the train will cross in a few minutes



A longer train on the upper level of Lapwai Canyon



Trains of 70-ton shuttle wheat hoppers descending the canyon







(to be continued)