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In this video, I run along 30 miles of abandoned railway in Idaho. I encounter bridges, tunnels, rockslides, fallen trees, and more. It truly is amazing how quickly the land takes over once something is abandoned.
If you live in Boise, chances are you’ve driven highway 55 up to McCall. Each time I’ve done that drive, I notice that there is an abandoned railroad following the highway all the way up. I finally let my curiosity get the better of me and decided to follow the railway on foot so that I could see it up close.
This stretch of track was built in 1914 by Union Pacific. Once completed, scheduled service from Nampa to McCall began operating on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This line paved the way for the local timber industry as it allowed equipment and logs to be transported in and out of the mountains. In addition, this line provided recreational access to many pristine lakes and rivers.
In 1993, this section of track was purchased by the Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad. Several years later, the railroad named this section the “Thunder Mountain Line” and began running a tourism operation. Unfortunately, due to rising costs and low ridership, the railroad shut down in 2015. It was then abandoned and forgotten, slowly slipping into a state of disrepair.
I decided to make this excursion a two day event. Before starting this journey, I stashed a bag of gear about 20 miles from the starting point.
Thanks for watching my video! I am determined to visit as many interesting places like this as possible. If you are interested in seeing more, please consider subscribing to my channel and leave a comment if you have any ideas for future videos. I'm always up for an adventure.