Sandpoint really is one of the best "railfanning", or train spotting, sites in the northwest, with 50 or more trains passing through every day. Though there are many good spots from which to do one's railfanning, our favorite was at the 1916 Northern Pacific depot near the centre of the city, as it's both active and handy. While we were at the station taking photos two trains passed through in less than a half hour, hauling a wide variety of freight in both open and closed cars.
Our second favourite train watching location was the railroad bridge over Lake Pend Oreille which, at 8400 feet in length, is the longest bridge in Idaho. One generally can't get as close to the trains there, though, as one can at the depot. Also, there is usually parking available right at the depot.
On August 3, 2010 the Spokane Spokesman-Review published an article on railfanning in Sandpoint which was subsequently reproduced by the
Idaho State Journal of Pocatello, ID.
The beginning of the article is reproduced below.
Rail enthusiasts flock to Sandpoint
Posted: Tuesday, August 3, 2010 12:35 am
By Rebecca Nappi Spokesman-Review
SANDPOINT, Idaho (AP) — About 50 trains chug through Sandpoint each day, night and day.
Almost all carry cargo grain, windmill turbines, airplane fuselages, even Barnum and Bailey circus elephants.
Near midnight, and then again at 2:32 a.m., Amtrak’s “Empire Builder” drops and collects passengers; Sandpoint boasts the only Amtrak stop in Idaho.
“Railfans” from throughout the world travel to Sandpoint to train-watch and photograph trains roaring across the bridge over Lake Penned Aureole [Lake Pend Oreille]. It’s a magnificent meeting of water, mountain and machine.
Sandpoint traces its vital beginning to the railroads, and the railroads might be one key to its economic future especially if aging baby boomers journey there in great numbers in search of trains.
Marianne Love, Sandpoint writer and sage, grew up on a farm close to the railroad tracks. In 1996, she wrote a definitive article on Sandpoint’s train history for Sandpoint Magazine.
“I don’t think we’d have a town if we didn’t have trains,” she said in a recent interview over breakfast at the Hoot Owl, a busy cafe popular with locals.
The Northern Pacific’s completion of its line in 1883 connected the fledgling town to the world beyond. In 1892, the Great Northern Railroad completed its line, too, bringing station agents L.D. and Ella Farming to town.
From the Idaho State Journal