If you find yourself wandering through the rolling hills of Eastern Washington—specifically the Palouse region—you might notice long, winding stretches of gravel or oddly straight embankments cutting through the wheat fields. That’s the ghost of the Northern Pacific CW Branch. It wasn't a main line. It didn't carry glamorous passenger cars from Chicago to Seattle. Honestly, it was a workhorse, a "grain branch" that basically kept the rural economy of the Inland Empire alive for nearly a century.
The Northern Pacific Railway (NP) was a titan. But while people talk about the big mountain passes and the massive bridges, the CW Branch—officially the Central Washington Branch—was where the real, gritty business of farming met the industrial age. It ran from Cheney, just south of Spokane, out toward Coulee City and eventually headed toward the Columbia River. It was a lifeline. Without it, the massive harvests of the late 1800s and early 1900s would have just rotted in silos.
What the Northern Pacific CW Branch Actually Did
Building a railroad in the late 19th century wasn't just about laying steel. It was a land grab. The Northern Pacific CW Branch started its life in the 1880s because the NP wanted to block the Great Northern Railway from taking over the territory. It was tactical.
The line pushed west from Cheney. It hit towns like Medical Lake, Reardan, Mondovi, and Davenport. If you drive Highway 2 today, you’re basically shadowing the ghost of this route. The engineering wasn't flashy. There weren't many massive tunnels. Instead, it was about finding the path of least resistance through the "Channeled Scablands," a landscape carved out by prehistoric floods.
Steam engines chuffed through these coulees, pulling cars loaded with timber, livestock, and, most importantly, soft white wheat. In the early days, the CW Branch ended at Almira. Later, it pushed to Coulee City. There was even a wild plan to bridge the Grand Coulee and head to Waterville, but the terrain was a nightmare. The "Big Bend" country is beautiful but brutal for a locomotive.
Eventually, the line did reach Mansfield. This was the end of the world for the NP in that direction. The CW Branch was long, lonely, and incredibly productive during the harvest. You’d have dozens of grain elevators popping up like skyscrapers in tiny hamlets that barely had a post office.
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Why the Line Disappeared (And Why Some of It Stayed)
Railroads don't just die; they fade away. The decline of the Northern Pacific CW Branch is a classic story of trucks winning the war. Once the state started paving highways, farmers realized they could just haul grain to a central terminal rather than waiting for a local train that might only show up twice a week.
The merger of 1970 changed everything. The Northern Pacific merged with its rivals to form Burlington Northern (BN). Suddenly, the company had too many tracks. They looked at the CW Branch and saw an expensive liability. Maintenance on those old wooden trestles was a killer.
In the late 1980s and early 90s, the abandonment started.
But it’s not all gone. This is where it gets interesting for history nerds and hikers. Parts of the line were saved. The segment from Cheney to near Coulee City underwent a transformation. Today, a huge chunk of it is the Columbia Plateau Trail State Park. If you walk it, you’re walking the exact grade where 100-car trains used to roll. The ballast is still there. The echoes of the NP are everywhere if you know where to look.
The Coulee City Connection
There is a weird bit of survival here. While the tracks were pulled up in many places, the state of Washington actually stepped in to buy some of these "light density" lines. They knew that if the tracks were gone, they’d never come back. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) owns sections of what used to be the CW Branch.
They lease it out. Shortline operators like the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad have used parts of this corridor to move carloads of grain. It’s a scrappy operation. You won't see shiny new Tier 4 locomotives. You’ll see old EMD geeps—workhorse engines from the 60s and 70s—lugging cars at 10 miles per hour. It’s slow. It’s loud. It’s beautiful.
Exploring the Ghost of the NP Today
If you want to see the Northern Pacific CW Branch for yourself, don't look for a train station. Most of those were torn down or turned into houses decades ago. Look for the elevators.
- Cheney: This is the jumping-off point. The junction where the branch split from the NP main line is still visible.
- Medical Lake: The tracks are gone, but the trail is excellent here. You can see how the railroad hugged the shoreline.
- Reardan: Check out the massive grain elevators. Even if the tracks are pulled, the reason the town exists is still standing tall.
- The Trestles: Further west toward the scablands, you can find the stone abutments where bridges used to span the basalt canyons.
Railfans often get obsessed with the "main lines"—the places where high-speed intermodal trains fly by every twenty minutes. But the Northern Pacific CW Branch represents the "branch line" lifestyle. It was intimate. The engineer knew the farmers. The conductor probably delivered the mail. It was a localized version of the industrial revolution.
The Engineering Reality
The CW Branch wasn't built for speed. It was built for weight. The Northern Pacific used relatively light rail here compared to the heavy steel used on the Stampede Pass or Stevens Pass routes.
Because the Palouse and the Big Bend are high-desert environments, the wood ties actually lasted longer than they might have in the rainy Cascades. Dry rot is slower. That’s why you can still find original ties rotting in the dirt near Almira or Hartline. They’ve been there for eighty years, refusing to fully disappear.
The grades were tricky. While it looks flat, the Inland Empire is a series of rolling "waves." A heavy grain train trying to climb out of a coulee required serious horsepower. It wasn't uncommon to see "doubling the hill," where the crew would split the train in half, take one part to the top, then go back for the rest. It was a slow, grueling way to make a living.
How to Research the CW Branch
If you’re looking for deep-dive records, the Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association (NPRHA) is the gold standard. They have the old track charts. These charts show every single culvert, every switch, and every "whistle post" along the line.
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You can also look at the WSDOT rail maps. They keep a surprisingly good record of who owns what "abandoned" right-of-way. Many people don't realize that even if the tracks are gone, the "corridor" is often still a legal entity. It’s a strip of land that belongs to the state or a utility company.
Practical Next Steps for Historians and Travelers:
- Visit the Columbia Plateau Trail: Start at the Fish Lake trailhead near Cheney. This gives you the best "on-the-ground" feel of the NP's engineering.
- Use Historic Aerials: Websites like HistoricAerials.com let you look at satellite imagery from the 1950s. You can literally see the trains sitting on the CW Branch tracks in black and white.
- Check Local Museums: The museum in Davenport has excellent records of the railroad's impact on Lincoln County.
- Document the Elevators: Many of the wooden grain elevators along the former CW route are being demolished because they are fire hazards. Photograph them now; they are the last headstones of the NP era.