In case you haven't noticed, the hundred or so empty lumber cars which were parked on the unused rail line in Coeur d'Alene for most of 2009 have quietly vanished.

Not because lumber shipments are suddenly in high demand. BNSF simply moved the un-needed cars to another place because final steps are now underway for the removal of this last remaining piece of the city's railroad link to the outside world.

"Good riddance," say many of you, but once that track is gone, Coeur d'Alene will lose tremendous potential for its future.

In its heyday, back when CdA boomed with both tourism and manufacturing, the city was served by four separate rail lines. Newcomers to this area, and those too young to remember, should pay a visit to the Museum of North Idaho or browse the regional books section at Hastings to see pictures that show what a thriving, vibrant downtown and waterfront CdA once had.

What to do next with the railroad property, and the former lumber mill properties which the railroads once served, was left mainly in the hands of a couple of visionary developers. But their vision proved to be narrowly-focused and sometimes near-sighted, having failed to see the economic downturn which some of us knew was coming long before the mortgage resets, bank collapses, and stock drops happened.

As a result, what started out as an attractive and purposeful business center at Riverstone got ruined by a later decision to cram in some odd-looking condos and excess retail space that can't even be sold or leased at half price.

North Idaho College, which plans to expand onto some of the abandoned mill and rail property, has pledged to work with area businesses to improve education for a manufacturing workforce. If the economy manages to recover, and manufacturing gets back on its feet in north Idaho, there will need to be competitive options for transporting raw materials and/or finished products. Some of it by road, and possibly some by rail.

No, a new lumber or machinery plant would not be the best use of the former DeArmond Mill site next to NIC, but such industries would make perfect sense where the Atlas Mill used to be out along Seltice Way.

If Coeur d'Alene can't at least find reason to purchase or preserve some of this rail line as a means to support much-needed manufacturing jobs, it had better realize the track's right-of-way is the only thing left that could support the inevitable need for commuter rail service. Not now, maybe not even five years from now. But if by some miracle this world survives another century, and if Kootenai County's population continues to grow, and gas prices keep going up, there will be mounting pressure to provide the kind of clean and efficient light rail service that's operating successfully elsewhere.

Skeptics will say, "This isn't L.A. or Portland or Seattle." Thank goodness it's not. But the real estate boom of the previous two decades has helped make the weekday rush hour along Northwest Boulevard or U.S. 95 seem more like the crowded commute which a lot of folks moved here to get away from. And it's only going to get worse.

A park-and-ride station at the former DeArmond site or in the Riverstone complex would offer quick and convenient travel from Coeur d'Alene west through the heart of Post Falls and eventually clear into Spokane. Students would use it getting to and from NIC. Shoppers and commuters would use it to avoid the hassle of rush-hour traffic and parking in Spokane. And there would be fewer people adding their cars to the congestion of Coeur d'Alene on sunny summer weekends.

If only they hadn't ripped out the track that used to run through the front lawn of the resort; that would have been a great place to arrive by train.

The civic and business leaders of Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls should read "When the Railroad Leaves Town" by Joseph Schwieterman. It describes the social and economic impact to communities across America where rail service was allowed to disappear. Then, they should contact their counterparts in places like Airway Heights, Moses Lake, Ritzville, Lewiston, the Tri Cities, etc., to learn how they helped sustain local jobs and quality of life by preserving and even expanding their local rail service.

The loss of potential rail customers in Coeur d'Alene has put three rail customers in Post Falls (Idaho Veneer, Interstate Plastic, and Potlatch's particleboard plant) in a precarious position. If either one of them closes, the other two will be the only thing left to give BNSF incentive to provide regular rail service to Post Falls. Without that, the track that will be left in place as far east as Dairy Queen near Highway 41 will be used as a parking lot for unused freight cars during this down economy, a scenario already mentioned in the abandonment papers.

Coeur d'Alene lost one of its options for future rail service when the majority of the Union Pacific line into town got turned into a bike trail. You've got only one chance left, and it's fading fast.

Bruce Kelly is a resident of Post Falls

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