B&I Railroad in Idaho

Greetings all,

I was doing some genealogy research and on my grandfathers birth certificate (Boise, ID) it said that my great grandfather's employment was working as a foreman on the B&I Railroad.

Do any of you know of this railroad, or can you direct me as to where I might find some information on it?

I'm waiting for some feedback from the Historian in Boise, ID, but I thought I would run this by you experts as well.

The Boise & Interurban electric street car line opened in 1907, connected small towns on the “Valley Loop” with downtown Boise. The line ran west from Boise to Eagle, Star, Middleton and Caldwell, and returned to Boise through Nampa and Meridian. It enabled country dwellers easy access to the big city and families to picnic in destination parks built along the line, as well as providing a freight service and transport to work for early commuters. The service ended in 1928.

The Boise & Interurban Railway Company and the Boise Valley Railway
Company were operated by the Idaho Traction Company until 1913 when
they became part of the Idaho Light and Power Company. In 1915,
operations were transferred to the Boise Valley Traction Company,
which was owned by the Idaho Power Company. The interurban system,
successful through 1920, began feeling the effects of the increased use of
automobiles and trucks and began to suffer financial losses in 1924.
Unable to successfully compete, the passenger service was abandoned in
May of 1928.

Photo: see http://davesrailpix.com/odds/id/htm/bir01.htm

And: http://www.adaweb.net/departments/hpc/P ... eyLoop.asp

See also: http://www.idahopress.com/articles/2007 ... /news1.txt

Excellent information! Thank you so much. Now that I know what it's called I am finding all sorts of information on this.

Fantastic!

Thanks again for the assist!

My pleasure! Let us all know what else you find.

Here's some more info on the interuban line.

Map of Boise Valley Loop : http://www.boisestate.edu/history/cityh ... yloop.html

and cupla more photos:
http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr1613.htm

delete (redundant)

Thanks again. My next step is going to be to try and locate any documentation on the employees for the line around 1907, or maybe some newspaper articles.

My hope is to locate info on Joseph Henry Henderson that worked as a foreman for the B&I around that time. The pictures are nice and it makes me wonder while looking at them if he is actually in one of the photos... We'll never know.

I was wondering if you ever found the employee records for Henderson on the Boise Interurban. I am looking for records on my great grandfather Robert Emmett Stiff who also was suppose to be an operator on that line. Thanks for any help.