SPOKANE, Wash. — As unemployment rates remain high across much of Eastern Washington, a railroad repair shop in Pend Oreille County offers a potential bright spot for job creation in one of the state’s hardest-hit regions.
New employment data shows Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille counties have three of the top five highest unemployment rates in Washington state. The numbers paint a challenging economic picture for much of Eastern Washington, with Grant County at 7.9 percent unemployment, Adams County at 6.9 percent, and Lincoln County at 6.1 percent. Spokane County sits at 4.5 percent, just above the state average.
According to the latest figures, Washington lost 5,200 jobs across the state in March.
But in Pend Oreille County, the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad repair shop in Usk is providing a glimmer of hope.
For more than 100 years, railroad tracks have carried trains through the Pend Oreille Valley, delivering coal to Metaline Falls and departing with cement-filled cars, stopping in Ione for lumber. Today, the northern two-thirds of the line is slowly fading away as trains no longer need to travel beyond Usk.
However, Usk has become a destination for aging locomotives from across the country.
“There’s kind of a push to put emission standards on locomotives,” explains Myles Keogh, who manages the repair shop for the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad.
Keogh, born and raised in the valley, has deep roots in the area. “I’ve lived here my whole life.” he said.
When profit from the rail line disappeared with the closure of the cement plant, lumber mill, and paper mill, the railroad found a new way to generate revenue and provide jobs.
“About 30 years ago or so, we started doing some small builds up here at Pend Oreille Valley,” said Pat Rowe, Vice-President of Sales for Western Rail, a Spokane company that buys, sells, and leases train engines, many requiring repairs.
The shop can do any all all work required. “From small paint jobs, wheel change-outs to now the Cummins tier four repairs, which are complete remodels and rebuilds of locomotives,” Rowe explained.
One of the main tasks for the crews is retrofitting massive diesel engines with new, more environmentally friendly upgrades. The facility is one of the few places in the Western United States performing this specialized work.
“Having the shop built, expanded, it would save us a lot of time and overhead and just problems dealing with other [facilities],” Rowe said.
The Port of Pend Oreille, which operates the shop, wants to expand the operation to bring more jobs to the area. However, securing the more than $13 million needed to pay for the expansion is challenging, despite having work lined up for the next five years.
“Right now the shop is pretty much booked until the first part of 2028 with work,” Rowe noted. “That doesn’t include the quotes and RFPs that are coming in for the next year or two. That should push us out to probably 2030, 2032.”
Keogh emphasized the current limitations: “It’s just we need more space and more people. And, you know, that’s the biggest thing we have to work for. We just don’t have the space and the manpower right now for it.”
The Port is hoping to secure a federal grant for the expansion that would not only make trains more environmentally friendly but also improve economic conditions in Pend Oreille County for people trying to make a living.
For residents like Keogh who are committed to the area, the expansion represents an opportunity to strengthen the local economy while preserving their way of life in the valley they call home.
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