By Cameron Rasmusson
Reader Staff
The history of the railroad is a key part of the Sandpoint community.
Bonner County History Museum Curator Heather Upton stands in front of the museum’s new railroad exhibit, which came together through solid community support. Photo by Cameron Rasmusson
It’s fitting, then, that the community played a key part in capturing its legacy with a new Bonner County History Museum exhibit. According to Heather Upton, museum curator, help from local railroad enthusiasts like Will Valentine and Bill Aitken helped bring the exhibit to life.
“I’ve really come to understand railroad fans,” she said. “There are a lot of them, and they are passionate about it.”
The exhibit includes a recreation of an early-20th-century ticketing office, showing in detail the tight quarters and equipment used to keep train traffic rolling. It was a tall order to choose which artifacts to include in short space, but Upton is thrilled with how it came together.
“We had all these fabulous railway lanterns and signals, and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be marvelous if we brought them back to life?’” Upton said.
While we have you ...
... if you appreciate that access to the news, opinion, humor, entertainment and cultural reporting in the Sandpoint Reader is freely available in our print newspaper as well as here on our website, we have a favor to ask. The Reader is locally owned and free of the large corporate, big-money influence that affects so much of the media today. We're supported entirely by our valued advertisers and readers. We're committed to continued free access to our paper and our website here with NO PAYWALL - period. But of course, it does cost money to produce the Reader. If you're a reader who appreciates the value of an independent, local news source, we hope you'll consider a voluntary contribution. You can help support the Reader for as little as $1.
You can contribute at either Paypal or Patreon.
Contribute at Patreon Contribute at Paypal
Coming up this week! Don’t miss out on a Student Safety Summit, Sherlock, Earth Day Cleanups…. and more! See the full list of events in the 
