Editing Ashton, Idaho (section)

===Railroad===
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In 1900, the [[Union Pacific Railroad]], under the careful watch of the [[Oregon Short Line]] (OSL) and St. Anthony Railroad Company, brought the railroad into the Upper Snake River Valley from [[Idaho Falls]] to [[St. Anthony, Idaho]], {{convert|14|mi|km}} southwest of what became Ashton. The venture had considerable local support and official support from the [[LDS Church]]. Following successful construction and operation of the St. Anthony Railroad, Union Pacific, under the careful watch of the OSL and the Yellowstone Park Railroad Company, began plans for another railroad from St. Anthony to the Madison River entrance of [[Yellowstone National Park]] or to what is now known as [[West Yellowstone, Montana|West Yellowstone]]. For years, Union Pacific wanted improved rail access to Yellowstone's geyser basins and to [[Old Faithful Inn]], that opened in 1904. Old Faithful Inn was only {{convert|30|mi|km}} from the Madison River entrance, nearly half the distance from the Northern Entrance at [[Gardiner, Montana]] that was served by the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]]. The planned route for the new railroad was through Marysville, up Warm River Canyon into the forested Island Park country, and on over the Continental Divide at [[Reas Pass|Rea's Pass]] into what became West Yellowstone.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:1906AshtonHotel.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Original Ashton Hotel in 1906 that was destroyed by fire circa 1920. Standing on stair, right, is H. G. "Fess" Fuller who is known as the father of Ashton.]] -->
Despite the obvious economic advantages and support, the residents of Marysville, perfectly happy without a railroad, resisted the new railroad intruding upon their land and into their lives. The matter was expeditiously resolved when Union Pacific decided to build the railroad through a new town one mile (1.6&nbsp;km) west of Marysville named after the OSL Chief Engineer, William Ashton. The founding of Ashton and the first scheduled train service to Ashton both occurred in 1906 with predictable results. Ashton quickly sprang to life while Marysville slowly declined into near oblivion. One of the two founding fathers,  H. G. "Fess" Fuller, became the long-time Mayor of Ashton and the other, [[Charles C. Moore]], went on to become [[Governor of Idaho]].

The Yellowstone Branch, as the new railroad was known, was very unusual in that it was built primarily for passenger service and secondarily for freight. Aesthetic stone depots, rather than standard wooden ones, were built at [[Rexburg, Idaho]], and at West Yellowstone to lure and impress tourists traveling to Yellowstone National Park and Old Faithful Inn. In addition to regular freight and passenger service, there were two special named trains, the ''Yellowstone Special'' and the ''Yellowstone Express'', that ran to West Yellowstone in the summer tourist season. From Ashton north, the railroad was never plowed of snow, except in spring, so that Ashton became the wintertime rail terminus for the entire region.