Officials discuss replacing Colfax-Pullman rail with trail

Almost five years after fire wiped out rail service from Colfax to Pullman, a number of local officials have begun discussions to turn the rail bed into a recreational trail.

In a joint meeting last Wednesday at Pullman City Hall, officials with the county and both cities authorized Pullman Supervisor John Sherman to write a letter to request the state to “bank” the railroad right-of-way if and when the railroad is abandoned.

The rail connection was destroyed when the South Palouse River fire of August 2006 consumed a trestle just east of Colfax.

“Nothing’s been done since,” said Sherman. “We...