1908-08-26-sr-p8-wwp-and-phoenix-mill-to-build-rr-line
August 26, 1908 Spokesman-Review Page 8:
WORK BEGINS SOON ON NEW RAILROAD
W. W. P. COMPANY AND PHOENIX MILL TO BUILD JOINT LINE.
STARTS AT SPRINGDALE, WASH.
Will Extend About 20 Miles, to the Mouth of Chamokane Creek.
A contract which will be signed in next few days between the Phoenix Mill and the Washington Water Power company makes certain the construction of a standard gauge road by the former company from Springdale, Wash, on the S. F. & N. division of the Great Northern, to the junction of Chamokane creek and the Spokane river, about 20 miles, where the lumber company has considerable timber holdings.
The interest of the Washington Water Power company in the road is to secure transportation for material for the construction of its power plant at Little Falls. The company has been in negotiation with the Chamokane Lumber company for the construction of a line to Little Falls from Reardan, Wash, which would provide transportation for its material for the power plant, and the agreement with the Pheonix mill has only been arrived at in the last few days.
The road will be built in such a manner that it can eventually be transformed into a carrier for regular freight and passenger traffic and may in time be a part of,a line into the Big Bend country and to the Columbia river.
The power plant which the Washington Water Power company is installing at Little Falls will have four units of 8900 horsepower each, adding 35,600 horsepower to the power supply of the company. The falls at present have a drop of a little more than 30 feet, to which 30 feet more will be added by the dam, The dam will have a spillway of 650 feet, of which nearly two-thirds will be to take care of flood water.
The Phoenix mill line will begin construction immediately and will be completed in about six months, until which time little work on the dam and power plant will be done other than rock work and clearing the site.
