INTERMOUNTAIN RAILWAY COMPANY
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Snapshot History: Intermountain Railway Co. On July 19, 1907, the Barber Lumber Company, six miles out of Boise, incorporated the Intermountain Railway Company to construct a 40 mile standard gauge railroad from Barber northeast to Centerville, Idaho. Because of legal problens with the Federal Government over acquisition of large tracts of timberlands, they held off building the railroad until after 1912. During this period the nearby Payette Lumber Company cut untold logs and had them waiting to go to their mill. Ironically,one company had the railroad funded and the other had logs to ship. On Decenber 24, 1913, the two companies merged and became the Boise Payette Lumber Company. Shortly after the merger, construction of the the Intermountain Railway began. On March 1, 1915, The initial line was complete and Logs began to be shipped to a new mill at Barber. The new company held 200,000 acres of land on the outskirts of Boise and it was estimated there was two-billion board feet to be cut. It is reported that the Lumber Company and the R.R. made adequate profits from 1915 through 1923. From 1924 to 1929 the lumber company did fair, the railroad was in the red. Even so, that was OK as the railroad's loss was far less than the profit for the lumber company that owned it and needed its services. August, 1926: The Intermountain Railway was listed at 40 miles in length. Interchange of freight was at Barber Junction with the Oregon Short Line (Union Pacific). December 31, 1930: As of this date the company listed five coal burning locomotives; 126 revenue freight cars - two 30-ton box, one 30-ton gondola, ten 30-ton flatcars, two 35-ton flat cars, 106 40-ton flat cars, and two cabooses. Further, the company also operated over 4.15 miles of spurs, sidings and yard tracks. Also, its main line was down to 26.58 miles. Unfortunately, the Depression was to hit the lumber business hard. The Payette Lumber Company lost over $6,000,000 a year from 1930 to 1932. The line was forced to close in December of 1935. For the record: There is much misinformation floating around about this company, its mission, reason for being, etc. Some say it was even incorporated to take care of the miners north of Boise. Much of what is above was taken from lumber company notes and financial records. The fact that the company had 118 flat cars and no passenger cars, or service, tends to support the lumber business. Likewise, the "Intermountain Rrailway" of Idaho gets confused with the Inter-Mountain Railway of Colorado.
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Intermountain Railway 3-trk Shay #22
Image, Intermountain Railway 3-trk Shay #22 Order No. IMR22I Barber, Idaho, May 29, 1937: Intermountain Railway, 3-truck, three-cylinder, Shay #22 is lifeless after a short 20 year period. Shopping Cart 8.5" by 11" Image, Price - $ 5.00 [Add To Cart] --------------------
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