Towns Along the Line #1: Potomac

Potomac sits as the headquarters of the Chipman Logging empire. Originally the town was the hub of the A.C.M operations in the Camas Prairie region. But when the A.C.M pulled up stakes and headed west, Chipman took the town over and remade it in it's own image. The first structure built by Chipman was a new one stall engine shed and workshop. Covered storage was provided outside the workshop and watering and coaling facilities were enlarged and improved. This allowed the Chipman crews to perform all the maintenance on their locomotives save for a heavy rebuilds of the running gear and boiler, these were forwarded to the A.C.M shops in Bonner.
A small holding yard was constructed in 1917. This yard, called Yard North by crews was the holding yard for the logs freshly cut from Camp 3. It was the job of the night crew to bring in the loaded log cars down the mountain and prepare them for the morning turn to McNamara.
There was no formal passenger service to Potomac so a passenger depot was never constructed. There was a rudimentary freight depot and loading dock constructed for delivering and shipping supplies, spare parts and the mail. Most human transportation was done by car over a muddy cow path that called itself a road.
At it's peak Potomac's population was counted 134 persons. This is inaccurate as there were easily twice that number who came and went with the timber and the seasons. There were 45 company two room houses built in 1918. It was standard practice for two people to rent each room and share the tiny kitchen. Rent could be paid in cash or deducted from a workers paycheck.
There were few creature comforts to be found in Potomac. Bonner was the place to be if you wanted to have fun. There was a hotel with a bar on Main Street and it attempted to serve a higher class of clientele, few and far between twenty miles up the Blackfoot. The "Hayden", built in 1907 during the A.C.M enacted rules that made it tough for the local lumber hicks to get in the door and impossible to stand at the bar. As such almost all alcohol consumed in Potomac was home brewed.
By the late 1950's Potomac was in a slide. Two of the yard tracks were taken up when the timber production tapered off dramatically. With the end of steam in 1957 the shop forces were slashed. Logging trucks, common on the A.C.M property were finally being felt in Potomac. When there wre not enough logs to fill a train, a truck would be hired to do the job at half cost. And by the 6o's loggers and railroaders alike commuted to Potomac from Bonner and Missoula. With them came the supplies and the depot and loading dock were razed. When Chipman folded in 1971 the last remnants of this headquarters town were auctioned off to the highest bidder. Today only memories tell the tale of a Chipman Potomac, a Potomac that gave lumber to the world.