East portal of tunnel #1
East portal of tunnel #1 north of Curlew.

The Ferry County Historical Society in Republic, Washington and the nearby Curlew History Club invited GNRHS members who were working on a Reference Sheet to visit the area and explore the GN sites. A tour to this area after the 2016 Spokane convention was also being considered.

On Friday night May 29th GNRHS members Jerry Barsness, Bob Kelly, Mike Bartenstien, Cordell Newby, Ron Ferrel and John Langlot met with 25 local folks including one city councilman and one county commissioner to offer them help in preserving their and Great Northern history. They were very well received by the whole group, and were treated to the grand tour of the

Eureka Gulch by Mr. Dick Slagle the 95 year old local historian who has lived in Republic his entire life. On Saturday Loren Guenther, retired GN track inspector from Kettle Falls, came over and spent the day talking with the GNRHS members and local folks, some he knew as he worked on the section in the area for many years.
All had a good trip and felt like they were greeted and treated like friends.

The GN trestle over Curlew Lake burned to the waterline. It was rebuilt in the BN era. Today it has been refurbished as part of a rail-trail.

Tunnel #1 north of Curlew is along the Kettle River.  The 115 foot tunnel is being considered for use in the rail-trail system.

The Ansorge hotel was located across from the GN depot in Curlew. Today the hotel is a museum arranged as it was in the 1920's.

A dinner meeting was held to exchange information with several local groups interested in their heritage and the rail-trail system.