For our
last adventure in Canada, we stopped at Hope, BC., just above the US border.
A
nice small community, once known for the Olympics, held other secrets of the
past in its most unusual approach to the creation of a railroad through the
region. Now abandoned, the once prosperous train route is part of a local park
system. Just outside the town is a parking lot and a trail that leads back
to the old track bed, the track having been removed long ago. The main
attraction is the half dozen tunnels cut through some of the most rugged
mountains in the area. From placards posted along
the
way we learned that in
constructing the Canadian Pacific Railway, Prime Minister John MacDonald feared
that if the line ran too close to the US border it risked the danger of being
captured by aggressive Americans. As it turned out, it was an economic
invasion in the 1800s which proved to be more of a threat. The competition
from American railway companies to establish a line into the mineral rich
Kootenays was strong. A personal grudge intensified the battle. After
quarrelling with CPR President William Van Horne, James J Hill, vowing revenge,
left the CPR and went on to be the president of the US company Great Northern.
With CPR sponsorship the Kettle Valley Railroad proposed to build a line through
the Coquihalla Pass. Such a route would be more challenging but also more
direct then the roundabout alternative of going north to the Nicola Valley.
Running along the north bank of the Coquihalla River, the line used a 2.2% grade
over most of the 36 mile climb from near sea level at Hope to the 3646 foot
Coquihalla summit. But only 4 miles from Hope, the Conquihalla River
presented a straight walled canyon rising vertically from the riverbed to a
height of more than 300 feet. This was one of many difficult obstacles
Engineer Andrew McCulloch encountered as he designed a railway which would cross
3 major mountain ranges. As we walked along I couldn't help but marvel at
natures rugged exposure and man's irresistible attempts to curb its
violent
manner to his own desires. Tunnel building in the early 1900s was for the
most part done by hand with a generous application of some very basic
explosives. It was long tiring work. As we wandered along we could
still find the tool marks where stone has been hacked away by hand, shaping and
finishing the walls. The railroad was built between 1913 and 1916 at an average
cost of 136
thousand pounds (Canada's dollar at the time), a mile, which is some 5 times the average
cost of railways at
that time. The most expensive mile being some 300 thousand pounds for a mile
near the summit. The entire run required 43 bridges which used up 22
million board feet of lumber and 4500 tons of steel. The Kettle Valley Railway engineer, Andrew McCulloch, was an avid fan of William
Shakespeare. McCulloch, who was said to have sat around the evening campfire
with KVR construction workers reciting Shakespearean poetry, used the
names of characters from the plays to name
stations along
the Coquihalla
line. In addition to a railway engineering marvel, he created something of
a cultural curiosity. Between Brookmore and Hope, some of the stations
were names Juliet, Romeo, Lago, Porftia, Jessica, Lear and here just east of
Hope, Othello. The Kettle Valley Railway also earned the distinction of
being the mot difficult railway in the country to operate. Rock, mud and
snow slides caused disruptions to service, particularly on the Coquihalla
section, which was shut down more than it operated in its first seven winters.
So hazardous was the terrain through the Coquihalla that many people believed
that trains in both directions were scheduled to cross after dark so that
passengers would not see the terrifying canyons far below. For 48 years the
railway provided both freight and passenger service between the Kootenays and
the Coast. Eventually better roads and air travel drew more and more
passengers away. Then in November 1959 heavy rain dealt a crushing blow,
washing out sections of the Coquihalla line. The damage was never repaired, and
in 1961 the Kettle Valley Railway's Coquihalla line was officially closed.
It took about an hour to get to to the sight of the famed rock slide and the end
of the trail. All in all it is one of the better free activities we found
in Canada.
*** THE END ***