Regular freight service resumed on an Idaho short line for the first time in seven years on September 10. The Washington, Idaho & Montana operates on 18 miles of track between Harvard, Idaho, and the Idaho-Washington border, where it interchanges with the Spokane, Spangle & Palouse. 

WI&M is actually the second railroad company to use the Washington, Idaho & Montana name. The Potlatch Lumber Company built the original line between 1905 and 1907 to connect eastern Washington with some of the best white pine stands in the Pacific Northwest. The WI&M ran 50 miles from a connection with the Northern Pacific in Palouse, Wash., to Bovill, Idaho, where it met the Milwaukee Road. In 1962, the WI&M became a subsidiary of the Milwaukee Road. After Milwaukee abandoned its lines west of Miles City, Mont., in 1980, the line became part of Burlington Northern before being spun off as a short line in the 1990s. The previous operator, the Washington & Idaho, last ran in 2018. By then, there was only one customer on the line, Bennett Lumber Products in Potlatch. In a case of history repeating itself, in 2023, the lumber company purchased the remaining 18 miles of the WI&M from the Idaho border east to Harvard.

Since 2023, the “new” WI&M has been working to rehabilitate the line, and the railroad made its first run back in February. This summer, it brought in a cut of empty centerbeam cars using its recently acquired GP9, former Central Montana 1838. Railroad officials said they expect to operate as needed, but usually at least once a week. The railroad is actively seeking additional traffic.