14

A work train runs along the Kettle River
1974
Carmi Subdivision, Kettle Valley Railway

Credits:
Courtesy of Joe Smuin
Ken Perry photo

15

A washout on the abandoned KVR line near Beaverdell
1979
Carmi Subdivision, Kettle Valley Railway

Credits:
Kettle River Museum

16

Rails and ties lifted from the KVR line are being loaded to haul away
1980
Midway, BC

Credits:
Kettle River Museum

17

The Kettle Valley Railway's rails and ties were lifted, and by 1980 only the rail bed remained on most of the line.

18

Lumber is still transported by rail from the new Pope and Talbot sawmill
Circa 1965
Midway, BC

Credits:
Kettle River Museum

19

Railway freight continued to be cost effective for shipping lumber from the sawmill in Midway east to Castlegar on CP Rail for some years. The Kettle Valley Railway had died but the route of the original Columbia & Western line lived on. Pope and Talbot, the new mill owners, shipped lumber over this short section until 1989 but even that last remnant of the railway is gone now.

20

CP Rail Engines No. 8831, 8504 and 8489 on the Castlegar to Midway run
23 October 1978
Midway, BC

Credits:
Kettle River Museum

21

The present and the past - the BC Provincial Museum Train visits Midway
1978
Midway, BC

Credits:
Kettle River Museum

22

Railway crew in the final days
Circa 1980
Midway, BC

Credits:
Kettle River Museum

23

Last station crew at Midway, from left to right: Ned Consulo, Pete Hoosen and William Vanderburgh
10 August 1984
Midway, BC

Credits:
Grand Forks Gazette

24

"The last man, the last station, the last mile of track - with spring comes the end of the Kettle Valley Railway. In April, Neddy Consulo will retire after 27 years of working on the railroad. He is the last man to have worked for the Kettle Valley Railway as a section man.

There are 2½ miles of track left of the railroad that took freight and passengers from Midway to the Coast. The track goes from the mill to the old Midway station. The station will go in the spring too - it will be moved back from the CPR's railway corridor. The City of Midway has bought it and plans to use it as a museum.

It has been said that the Kettle Valley Railway was one of the most difficult and most expensive railways to build in the world. Certainly, it was one of the most romantic railways, as anyone who worked on it will tell you.

The Coquihalla Pass section near Hope was the last to be completed in 1916. Coquihalla was a section that previous engineers had said would not be possible to construct. A straight walled canyon of more than 90m had to be crossed, but there the river turned, forming a horseshoe with the only outlet a narrow chasm with steep rock walls. In winter, snows drifted about 9m deep.

Neddy Consulo remembers the snow along the Coquihalla section of track. He has been a sectionman, keeping the track in good repair, for 19 different section of the Kettle Valley Railroad. Neddy spent his first winter at Romeo section. 'The snow really starts at Romeo', he said. 'Snow up to the eaves of the sectionman's house meant digging your way out and sliding in down a tunnel of snow.'

In November of 1959 there was a major washout in Lear section. Later that month dozens of smaller washouts and slides destroyed sections of track and the Coquihalla line was closed for repair. It never reopened..."

- by Jean Pinto, Grand Forks Gazette, Volume 87, No. 6

25

Looking east from "Mile O" of the KVR: a final portrait of the station still in use
Circa 1980
Midway, BC

Credits:
Kettle River Museum

26

Midway Station stands abandoned in this painting by F. Western Smith
30 April 1975
Midway, BC

Credits:
Grand Forks Gazette

27

"The oil painting shown... I completed in 1972.

After 75 years of life the station still remains in fair condition. As one looks at this structure today one can imagine how lonely it must feel after so many years of intense activity."

- from "The Kettle Valley Railroad: Midway Station" by F. Western Smith, Grand Forks Gazette, April 30, 1975