According to a 1952 newspaper article found on the Camas Prairie Rails web site, at the turn of the 20th century the mega-mogul Edward H. Harriman and the original Empire Builder, J. J. Hill, were looking into the forested regions of western Idaho and salivating over the thoughts of the endless carloads of timber products that might originate there. The Union Pacific and Northern Pacific workers came almost to blows on several occasions, before the managements of the railroads finally decided to make love, not war. The Camas Prairie railroad was the result. Jointly owned by Union Pacific and Northern Pacific, it operated equipment loaned from its parent lines and had a presidency which was alternately filled by appointments from the two owning roads.

I have a trip report of this railroad from Don Richardson: "My ride on the Camas Prairie Railroad was the result of a Railway Club of Southern California trip that was canceled in 1953. My parents, aunt, and I decided to do our own trip. We drove through Utah into Idaho following the UP and photographing 2-8-2s, 2-8-8-0s, 4-6-6-4s, 4-8-2s and 4-8-4s in the latter state. We rode the rapids on the Snake River in Idaho and Washington, Idaho & Montana Ry. Motor 11, a rail bus, in those three states between Palouse, Washington and Purdue, Montana on trains 2 and 3. We photographed UP 4-6-2 2894 on various trains out of its terminal in Lewiston, Idaho, including No. 62 at Moscow, Idaho. We rode the Camas Praire Grangeville and Stites branches on NP Motors (M-14 on the Grangeville Branch), photographing UP and NP 2-8-2s in freight service (NP on Grangeville Branch, UP on Stites Branch). We also photographed UP 0-6-0 4925, the yard goat at Lewiston. We photographed Nezperce R.R. engine 11, a Whitcomb gas motor, at Nezperce, Idaho. We photographed MILW #18 "Columbian" at Lake Couer D'Alene.
 
"With my Santa Fe vacation running out, I left my family in Lewiston and took UP No. 19 "The Spokane" from Lewiston to Portland. It was a night train and had upgraded semi-streamlined chair cars and one of those ubiquitous 2800 series Pacifics (how nice that sounds now!). I transferred at Portland to SP's No. 19 "Klamath" to San Francisco and No. 72 to Los Angeles (the only trains my pass was good on). The SP trains were terrible (weren't they all?). According to my timebook, I was gone 13 days."

For more information on the connecting service to Portland, see the Spokane on Track 7.