A bit of history

Overview
The Milwaukee Road, once so endeared to the hearts of railfans, at one point had a line all the way to Washington State, named the Lines West. Once abandoned, portions were carved up and sold, and the Potlatch Corporation purchased the line between Plummer and Avery, ID, as well as the Elk River Branch. Forming two shortlines from this bit of track, the St Maries River Railroad (STMA) operated from St Maries, ID, to a connection with the Union Pacific in Plummer, ID. The STMA also operated to Bovill, ID, on the branch, hauling logs to the Potlatch mill in St Maries. The other shortline created is insignificant, since the government condemned the line in the mid-80's. The STMA was managed by the Kyle Railroad group until 1999, when Potlatch themselves took over management of the line until selling it to the Williams Group, Inc, in 2010 (http://www.stmariesriverrr.com/aboutus.html).
Williams Group has mentioned expansions of service being a possibility, including contract repairs for railroad equipment (the Williams Group owner also buys, repairs, and sells RR equipment, and could utilize the beautiful shops in the yard at St Maries), and shipping both railroad ties and peas. (http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_352a0852-ab4b-50bc-9691-e70ce8eaa757.html)
Operations
Traffic includes the output of two lumber mills in St Maries, featuring boxcars and centerbeams hauling wood products. In the spring and summer, tank cars add a mix to the usual boxcars and centerbeams; they haul a road binder product that reduces dust on dirt roads. The branch line is currently completely out of service; around 2000, the portion from Clarkia, ID, to Bovill, ID, was put out of service. However, in 2009 Potlatch decided to stop hauling logs from Clarkia to their mill in St Maries, resulting in the entire branch now being considered out of service.
Roster
The STMA has five locomotives. Three are numbered 101-103 and are ex-MILW GP9s, with chopped noses. The other two are numbered 501 and 502 and are ex-MILW SW1200's. (http://www.thedieselshop.us/STMA.HTML).
More
To check out a few yard shots in St Maries, go here: http://www.angelfire.com/mt/sd40/page11.html
For a guy in a Speeder tour group's documentation of his time on the line, go here
http://www.nicdoncaster.com/PNW/stmariesp.htm
My playlist of videos featuring the STMA on youtube can be found here
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDA6213C4DA9FD7B4&feature=mh_lolz