Community celebrates railroad heritage

SANDPOINT — You could not tell by looking, but Paul Rechintzer has a rail depot out back.

Rechintzer of Sagle, is a train buff, and the author of two books on local rail service.

In the shop behind his home, he hoists a small model of the Sandpoint train depot from a siding the size of a canoe paddle that includes a strip of blue and a few model buildings.

“That is the Sandpoint skyline, if you will,” Rechintzer says.

The real depot, a 1916 Gothic-style station is the oldest active depot of the former Northern Pacific railway, used now by Amtrak passengers on a route that connects Portland and Seattle with Chicago.

Its fate is uncertain despite a $250,000 project by the state transportation department to refurbish and stabilize the station.

The Sandpoint depot will be discussed May 7 along with the history of rail companies whose trains chugged through Bonner County as part of a presentation by the city of Sandpoint Historic Commission.

The event is planned at the community hall beginning at 10 a.m.

Dan Everhart, architectural historian for the Idaho Transportation Department, will discuss depots in Idaho. Rechintzer will focus on the history of trains in Sandpoint and Arthur Hart, director emeritus of the Idaho State Historical Society plans a slide presentation on Idaho’s trains.

Sandpoint Mayor Gretchen Heller will kick off the event earlier in the week by signing a National Train Day proclamation.

The proclamation recognizes the historical significance of the iron horse in North Idaho.

“This is a train center,”  Heller said. “We have more trains going through here.”

The Sandpoint depot is a remnant from the glory days.

As part of the Sand Creek bypass work, the transportation department was required to complete a stabilization of the depot, Everhart said. The work that began a year ago included cleaning and replacing brick work, stabilizing and renovation as well as installing seismic monitors to keep track of stress on the structure from the surrounding earthwork.

“There was an anticipation that the of heavy earth-moving, pile driving, literally earth-shaking activity would put some strain on that building,” Everhart said. “With its state of decay, there was concern about it literally shaking apart.”

A city committee comprised of council members, administrators and a member of the historic commission contacted Burlington Northern, which owns the depot, in an effort to either purchase the station or secure a agreement to keep it at its present location.

“The city is interested in keeping the depot where it is,” Kody Van Dyk, a committee member and Sandpoint’s public works director, said.

“There has been no indication at all from Burlington Northern.”

The rail company received $900,000 from ITD to mitigate any damages to the depot, but the money has not been earmarked to repair the building, Everhart said.

The depot overlooking Sand Creek was not the only one in town.

Sandpoint was also the home to the lesser known Great Northern station located on Baldy Mountain Road along a series of tracks west of the city.

“Those tracks are from the original Great Northern Route,” Rechintzer said. “There was a station there.”

At one time, he said, Sandpoint residents had world-class transportation on their doorstep.

“There were two famous passenger trains going through Sandpoint, not a mile apart, six times a day,” he said. “That was a hell of a service if you were going to Chicago or Seattle.”