Marion History / Railroads / Hubbard Spur / Paul Flaherty

While researching the railroad through Marion, I stumbled across this gentleman's name; Paul Flaherty. You will see it appear on the site often with regards to the GN here in Marion.

While combing Yahoo Groups for GN postings, I found the below post from Mr. Flaherty back in June 2004. It is interesting since it discusses the Hubbart Ranch and the fact that the (a) reason for the spur was to service the ranch.Post below:

From: "Paul Flaherty" 
To: 
Sent: Saturday, June 12, 2004 6:17 PM
Subject: [gngoat] Did somebody mention Haskell Pass?


Hmmm, just about missed this thread, that's what I get
for being out of the country on business...

I've been studying the line from Kalispell to Jennings for
the past few years, been out there walking and driving the
ROW at all times of the year, and did a talk and visit
during the Izaak Walton's Essexpress weekend in 2003.

Peter Lewty's book is a great resource, and well worth the
purchase price. As Peter points out, CFB Haskell has really
gotten the historical short shrift by the GN, especially
since he was killed in the line of duty a few years after
locating the line through the Salish Mountain pass that
bears his name.

Haskell clearly did an extensive survey of the Salish during
the early months of 1890, including the present day route,
the Rexford route, and the Haskell Pass route. So theories
about a mistake are hard to reconcile. Of the possibilites,
Haskell Pass is the shortest route between Kalispell and the
Kootenai River, which is most likely why it was chosen.

Now comes the mystery. The Haskell Pass route had two
problematic regions -- the grades around the pass tunnel,
and snow/mud slides on the Wolf Creek portion of the line.
The latter could have been solved quite easily by relocating
the line to the north side of Wolf Creek, as it exists
today. The pass tunnel could have been moved four miles
south to the aptly-named Lost Prarie in the region of Bear
Springs Creek, eliminating about 100 feet of climb and
keeping the grades to about 1.2%. This is actually the
optimal route through the Salish, about 50 miles shorter
than the Rexford line. And, the Rexford line required 
relocating all of the shop facilities from Kalispell to
Whitefish.

The Rexford line relocation doesn't make engineering sense,
and generations of GN management have sought to defend it or
sidestepped the issue alltogether. Thus, we're left with all
sorts of theories, the most prominent of which is that Hill
did it to spite Charles Conrad, an early Montana reformer
and Kalispell landowner.

Some time after the line was cut back to Marion, a
spur was built from Marion south to the Hubbard Ranch; thus
you'll see "Hubbard" listed as the end of the line in
timetables and on maps of the 1930s and 40s.

As Lewty mentions in his book, you can drive most of the
Haskell Pass route, though I'd recommend avoiding the early
spring in wet years, when the entire road is often submerged
north of Island Lake. Locating the pass tunnel is a little
tricky, as it isn't quite where you'd imagine.

When we took the group up in May of 2003, I noted a
fresh cave-in that had occurred sometime after October 2002,
so entering the tunnel is not advisable. Also, I've often
noted fairly fresh griz tracks around the tunnel, so you
might want to be loaded for bear, so to speak.

A few of us have tossed around the idea of a CFB Haskell
statue somewhere in Kalispell, which would go a long way to
addressing the historical slight.

Regards,

-=paulf