They've been workin' on the railroad

Will trains carrying passengers once again use these tracks in Pullman?

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Story Published: Jun 14, 2009 at 10:14 AM PDT

Story Updated: Jun 14, 2009 at 10:14 AM PDT

By Matt Loveless

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PULLMAN - Back to the Future, or forward into the past.

A group of Spokane college students is leading the charge to bring back a trip on the train.

Bob Scarfo is an Associate Professor with the Landscape Architecture Program at WSU Spokane. He and more than 40 students, from landscape architecture to marketing, want to re-introduce passenger rail service to the Palouse.

"We have energy that's going to cost more," said Scarfo. "Travel's going to cost more. Schweitzer Engineering doesn't have enough housing in Pullman for it's employees. What if they could live in Rosalia or Garfield and jump on the train?"

It's called Powering the Palouse, but it's more than a school project. Scarfo said they've covered the logistics, and have had nothing but positive input from Pullman to Spokane and in between.

In fact, Scarfo said it could be the answer to many energy questions in the future.

"The rail cars are there," said Scarfo. "The wheat growers association wants to sit down and talk about this topic, and combine freight transporting wheat, and passenger. They've got the trains already. They've go the short run rails already."

When asked the odds of making it come together, Scarfo said "you never know".

The project would need cooperation from everyone involved. He said the plan is to get the information into the hands of policy makers, and hopes it begins snowballing in the next few months.

"These students are experiencing something that's going to be part of their profession five and 10 years from now, not when they graduate," said Scarfo. “I think this is going to put the Gonzaga students, the WSU student, and the EWU students ahead of the curve."

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