The Columbia and Kootenay Railway (C&KR) was a historic railway operated by the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

(CPR) in the

West Kootenay The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay ...

region of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. This route, beside the unnavigable

Kootenay River The Kootenay or Kootenai river is a major river in the Northwest Plateau, in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, the l ...

, linked

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

on the west arm of

Kootenay Lake Kootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Kootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s–70s, has changed th ...

with Robson at the confluence of the

and the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

near Castlegar.

C&KR lines

Opened in 1891, the railway was chartered by a CPR official and immediately leased for 999 years to the CPR. The CPR built this initial link to capture mining traffic heading southward by steamboat to the US. At Robson, CPR steamers sailed up the

Arrow Lakes The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Bea ...

and the

to connect with its mainline at Revelstoke. However, low water and ice on the Arrow Lakes made the water route unreliable. In 1897, the CPR built a branch line from

South Slocan South Slocan is an unincorporated community in rural British Columbia with a population of approximately 100 people, many of whom are followers of the Doukhobors religion. It is located on the northwest shore of the Kootenay River in the West Kooten ...

up the Slocan Valley to

Slocan City The Village of Slocan is in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The former steamboat landing and ferry terminal is at the mouth of Springer Creek, at the foot of Slocan Lake. The locality, on BC Highway 6 is about by roa ...

on the shore of Slocan Lake. Boats moved railway cars and loose freight to the north end of the lake, which connected with its

Nakusp and Slocan Railway The Nakusp and Slocan Railway (N&S) is a historic Canadian railway that operated in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The N&S initially connected Nakusp and Three Forks but soon extended to Sandon. Proposal The 1891 disco ...

for transportation to

Nakusp The Village of Nakusp (Sinixt ''neqo'sp'') is beside the mouth of Kuskanax Creek, on the Upper Arrow Lake in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. Lying between the Selkirk and Monashee ranges, the village is known for its ...

, from where boats sailed north to Revelstoke. This branch also provided a connection to the rich mining region around Sandon. This branch was abandoned in 1993 and became the Slocan Valley Rail Trail.

Connecting lines

In 1898, to the west, CPR bought the

Columbia and Western Railway The Columbia and Western Railway (C&W) was a historic, and initially narrow gauge, railway in southern British Columbia. Heinze ownership Proposal & planning Fritz Augustus Heinze, who opened a smelter at Butte, Montana in 1893, was seeking inve ...

, and rebuilt to standard gauge the next year. In 1900, to the east, CPR built its Procter branch along the west arm of Kootenay Lake. These sections would eventually form part of the CPR's southern mainline through British Columbia, now abandoned westward from about west of Castlegar.

Footnotes

References

* *Sanford, Barrie ''McCulloch's Wonder: The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Columbia Kootenay Railway Defunct British Columbia railways West Kootenay History of British Columbia Canadian Pacific Railway subsidiaries