Railroad Services

Railroads transformed rural life by opening roadless areas and linking towns such as Leonia, Meadow Creek, and Addie with depots, passenger travel, mail service, and trade. Passenger cars carried people on business and pleasure trips, sharply reducing travel time, and local residents took Sunday rail excursions with picnic lunches. Trains also handled mail, supporting the opening of post offices that were sometimes located in homes or mercantile buildings, either stopping regularly for mail or using an on-the-fly method that caught a mail bag from a stationary pole while incoming bags were thrown from the train. The railroad strengthened domestic trade by moving local fruit, grain, dairy products, milk and cream cans, logs, finished lumber, and ore concentrates from the Continental Mine to the valley for shipment to distant smelters. Although the rails of the KVRR were eventually abandoned, two lines still operate, and many places along the railroad have faded away after the railroads helped settle and develop the area.

Bonners Ferry, Idaho · United States