6

Kettle Valley Railway route, from 'Mile 0' at Midway to Odlum near Hope in the west
1915-
Southern British Columbia

Credits:
Map by Joe Smuin
Courtesy of Joe Smuin

7

Building the KVR, by Andrew McCullough - Part I
1938
Penticton, BC

Credits:
Boundary Historical Society 4th Report, 1964
Read by Jack Godwin

8

Building the railway grade west, by hand and horse power
1911-1915
Carmi Subdivision, Kettle Valley Railway

Credits:
Penticton Museum & Archives

9

KVR construction crew; the railway employed more than 5,000 workers at its peak
1911-1915
Carmi Subdivision, Kettle Valley Railway

Credits:
Penticton Museum & Archives

10

Track-laying work train and crew
Circa 1913
Princeton Subdivision, Kettle Valley Railway

Credits:
Kettle River Museum

11

Making railway ties
1911-1915
The Boundary

Credits:
Kettle River Museum

12

Ties for the railway were hand hewn and cut in the region. The Midway to Penticton section alone used more than half a million.

"In the days before sawmills became an accepted method of manufacturing, lumber and railroad ties were hand hewn with a broadax. Men would build a small temporary cabin near a stand of timber the right dimension for a railroad tie when hewn. They stood on the tree and scored to the depth needed for the finished face with the double-bitted axe, then used the broadax to slice off the scoring. This procedure was duplicated on the tree's other side.

When a log with several tie lengths was ready, a start was made on another tree, and when a load was made up they hauled it to a landing where the strings were bucked into eight-foot lengths. The ties were hauled to sidings for the Kettle Valley Railway."

- from "Harvest of Memories - Reminiscences of Bill Hatton"