Route Review: NPOV Lion’s Club Rail Riders - Washington
The North Pend Oreille (”pon-der-ay”) Valley (NPOV) Lion’s Club Rail Riders commenced their second season of railbiking on the tracks of the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad on the weekend of June 15th and 16th, 2019. Running six full weekends through the season, this all-volunteer run service organization dedicates itself to betterment of the community of Ione and the “Forgotten Corner” of northeast Washington.. I pedalled the route though the valley from Ione on June 15th, 2019.
Phone: 844 RAIL RIDE (844-724-5743)
Website: https://lionsrailriders.com/
Check-in Address: 101 Railroad Ave, Ione, WA 99139
Check-in is at the station in the small village Ione, which formerly served the NPOV Lion’s Club excursion train (and across a parking lot from a bar and grille).
While the history of the line is summarized below, I’ll also share this direct quote from the NPOV Lions Club, describing the contributions they’ve made to the region over the years.
In 1981, NPOV Lions Club started a train ride...with a single flat car, wooden benches with chicken wire fencing...that carried 60 passengers along the scenic Pend Oreille River from Ione to Metaline Falls. The success of the ride over the years had increased to 7 train cars (including a caboose!) and ridership to over 10,000 guests each season. From humble beginnings, North Pend Oreille Valley Lions Excursion Train Ride rolled to a stop after 35 years of providing family fun on October 23, 2016.
This created a new challenge for NPOV Lions Club. Funds raised from the train ride supported local, regional, and international projects. Nothing could replace the train but NPOV Lions now have a new, exciting, family fun event…RAIL RIDERS!
The initial route is a 6-mile (9.7 km) round trip from the Ione station along the river to the turnaround at the trestle overlooking the magnificent Box Canyon Hydroelectric Dam. Upon return to the station, riders are offered an additional 3-mile (4.8 km) round trip through farmlands and forest south of Ione.
The line was originally constructed from 1909 to 1911 as the Idaho and Washington Northern (I&WN) to carry lumber and cement from the valley to larger, mainline markets. I cannot readily find evidence of passenger service, although it is easy to imagine that locals used the freight services as connections to mainline passenger services. Through various financial transactions, operation of the line was taken over by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad before being sold to the Milwaukee Road, who ran the line from 1916 until bankruptcy in 1979. This was followed by the public creation of the Port of Pend Oreille, which took over maintenance and operation of the newly named Pend Oreille Valley Railroad (POVA).
While the new venture initially served cement, newsprint and lumber operations, the NPOV Lions Club began running excursion trains in 1981. These trains ran a slowly expanding fleet until the cost of regular line inspections led to the 2016 discontinuance of rail service in the northern part of the line, opening the opportunity for railbiking, which commenced in 2018. Freight operations and the Newport Priest River Rotary Club SPORT (Scenic Pend Oreille River Train) continue further south on the line.
As seen in many railbiking operations around the country, the NPOV Lions built their own bike based on the Railriders aluminum-framed and polyurethane-wheeled design. Lion Larry Pollack showed me the design and construction modifications he and the rest of the Lions made, including converting bolted connections to welds and moving the front wheels and axles to to the extreme front of the vehicles.
Moving the wheels to the front logically offers increased vehicle stability, but also created the challenge of decreasing seat adjustment range, potentially affecting taller riders. Larry explained that he has plans to deal with this and I look forward to seeing his next design update.
I travelled to Ione as part of a trip through the Pacific Northwest while staying in Spokane, Washington. I didn’t see any good options for using public transit to reach Ione from Spokane for a day trip. Also, given that Ione is 85 miles (137 kms) north of Spokane, it would have been impractical to cycle there and back in the time I had, so I opted for a rental car. The drive was impressively scenic, running through hills and farmlands and ultimately paralleling the Pend Oreile River and Railroad. Nearby attractions include the Seattle City Light Boundary Dam and the Tiger Historical Museum.
The cultural and entertainment offering in Spokane (note to fellow North-Easterners: it’s apparently pronounced Spo-can) far exceed expectation with classic spots such as the Davenport Hotel and contemporary offerings such as the Volstead Act. The Spokane River waterfront is a charming park comprised of bicycle and pedestrian trails and bridges, featuring the Numerica SkyRide aerial tramway over the Spokane Falls hydro-electric generator.
Railfans, and fans of Americana in general, will appreciate Frank’s Diner, housed in a former Barney Smith railcar that once served as the presidential car for the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Amtrak’s once-per-day westward Empire Builder is scheduled to leave Spokane at 02:45. The train was delayed just enough for me to enjoy the sunrise as I boarded.
