Boundary Line

The Boundary Line is a 129.7 mile railway line of the British Columbia Railway (BC Rail) running from Midway on the Kettle Valley Line to Rossland via Grand Forks, where it connects with the Washington & British Columbia Railway's Washington & Great Northern Line and Phoenix Line, and via Castlegar, where it connects with the Slluqan Valley Line and the North Western Pacific Railroad's Kootenay & Pend Oreille Line. In addition, it connects with the North Fork Line at Cuprum and Westend, and there are several other connecting spur lines.

The Boundary Line is Line 50, the Granby Smelter Spur is Line 501, the City Station Spur is Line 502, and the Carson Spur is Line 503 of BC Rail's Kootenay Region.

A unique feature of the Boundary Line is that it is the only Class I railway in North America with a switchback on a commercially operational line, located between Warfield and Rossland.

At Trail there is a five-stall enginehouse; in 1962 a new station building in "mid-century futurist" style was built there.

= History = The Columbia & Western Railway (C&W), owned by the British Columbia Smelting & Refining Company, was chartered in 1895 to build a railway from Trail to Penticton to move ore from mines to a smelter opened at Trail in February 1896. Work began in November 1895 on the first section, a 10.4 mile three-foot narrow-gauge line from Trail to Rossland. Reaching Rossland from Trail, 2300 feet of elevation needed to be gained; as a result, the line had grades of up to 4.8%, tight curves, and included two switchbacks over the final eight miles between Warfield and Rossland. The first loaded ore train ran in June 1896, and in December of that year a thrice-daily passenger service between Rossland and Trail was begun.

The use of narrow gauge on the first section was only a temporary expedient to save money and speed construction; from the outset, the intent was to build a standard gauge railway network. Thus the next stage, 20.3 miles from Trail to Robson West, was ab initio built as a standard gauge line and opened in September 1897. Mixed trains carrying freight and passengers were introduced on the line, moving concentrate from the Trail smelter to Castlegar, where the C&W connected with the Columbia & Kootenay Railway and to the steamboat dock at West Robson, allowing for the shipment of concentrate either by boat over Upper Arrow Lake to Blaenau on the Canadian Pacific trunk line, or via the C&K to Nelson and thence via the Northern Pacific Railway to the United States.

In March 1898, the original section between Trail and Rossland was regauged; meanwhile, work began on pushing the railway west to Midway. This section was extremely challenging, presenting numerous difficulties to be over come - of the 99 miles, all but 14 were on grades of 2.2%, and to bridge around two dozen side canyons, millions of feet of timber were needed. But the biggest obstacle was at Milepost 22, where the longest tunnel that had thitherto been planned in BC needed to be dug to take the line from the valley of Pup Creek to that of Dog Creek. To speed completion of the line, whilst the tunnel was being dug, a series of switchbacks with twelve legs was built over Bulldog Mountain, with a total length of 5.12 miles. The total rise from the east portal was 507 feet, from the west portal it was 403 feet, with a constant grade of 4% and curves with radii as tight as 260 feet. Trains took a full hour to traverse this section, but it meant that they could begin running between Robson West and Midway in October 1899. The Bulldog Tunnel, 3004 feet long passing at its midpoint 434 feet below the summit of the switchback route, was finally opened three months later, with the first train passing through it on 12 February 1900.

Due to these enormous obstacles, the capital expenditure in constructing this line was massive, and the C&W lacked the finances to proceed further west, preventing it from extending the trunk line any further. In the event, it was the Kettle Valley Railway that built west from Midway, reaching Myra in November 1913; finally, after absorbing the Vernon & Midway Railway, the KVR reached Penticton, and on 14 June 1914, when the KVR's Penticton–Midway line was opened, the goal set out in the original Columbia & Western charter of 1895 of a rail route from the Columbia River to Okanagan Lake was finally achieved.

The only terrorist attack ever to occur in British Columbia happened on this line with the bombing of a Columbia & Western passenger train on 29 October 1924. The target of the attack was Pyotr Vasilyevich Verigin (Пётр Васильевич Веригин, more widely known as Peter Verigin), leader of the Doukhobor community in BC. The explosion took place near Farron, between Castlegar and Grand Forks; in addition to Verigin and his 17-year-old secretary Marie Strelaeff, seven others were killed: John McKie (Conservative MP for Grand Forks-Greenwood), P.J Campbell, Hakim Singh, Harry J. Bishop, W. J. Armstrong, and Neil E. Armstrong. During the investigation, the government of Sir John Oliver had stated that the perpetrators were members of the Doukhobor community, however the Doukhobors suspected the involvement of the Dominion government. The crime, however, remains unsolved - to date, it is still unknown who was responsible for the bombing. To commemorate Verigin and the other victims of the bombing, a memorial was erected at the site of the incident, along with a siding called Verigin Station; there is no commercial service there.

In 1931, the Kettle Valley Railway acquired the Columbia & Western, and under the KVR, the Midway–Castlegar section was made part of the Boundary Subdivision, whilst the Castlegar–Rossland section became the Rossland Subdivision. After the British Columbia Railway absorbed the KVR in 1955, the entire line from Midway to Rossland became the Boundary Line.

Columbia & Western Mother Lode Subdivision
The British Columbia Copper Company, which owned the Mother Lode Mine five miles from Greenwood, opened a smelter a mile from the town in 1901. To service the smelter and the mines, the Columbia & Western built a 6 mile line from the mine to the smelter in 1901. After the end of the First World War, demand for copper fell, and the line was closed in 1923.

Columbia & Western Phoenix Subdivision
The BC Copper Company owned a number of mines in the Phoenix area as well, and to bring ore from those sites to the Anaconda smelter the C&W opened a line of just under 10 miles from Eholt on the mainline to Phoenix in 1901; this line was also used to ship ore to the Granby Smelter. The opening of the Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railway's Grand Forks–Phoenix line in 1905 drew away most copper traffic from the C&W due to the VV&E's easier grades and quicker service, and this line was abandoned in 1918, but the spurs around Phoenix to the Stemwinder, Victoria, Old Ironsides, and Glory Hole mines were taken over by the VV&E to continue shipments to Granby.

City Station Spur
This spur of 1.7 miles was built by the Columbia & Western in 1914 after absorbing the Kettle River Valley Railway in 1914, to connect the KRVR's Grand Forks City Station to the C&W mainline at Westend.

In 1931 it became part of the Kettle Valley Railway's Boundary Subdivision, and in 1955 it was named City Station Spur by the BCR, and is used by BC Rail passenger trains terminating at Grand Forks. Through trains use Grand Forks Station on the mainline.

Granby Smelter Spur
The Granby Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company (today called Granby Copper) was incorporated in 1899 to work claims staked and granted in the Phoenix area in 1896. Development of the deposits had begun in 1896, and in 1900 the company built a smelter with a capacity of 700 tons per day in Grand Forks; this would become the second-largest non-ferrous smelter in the world. To move ore from the mines to the smelter, the Columbia & Western opened a 2.2 mile branch from Granby, 1.9 miles west of Grand Forks on the C&W mainline, to the site of the smelter, 2.2 miles from Granby Station, in 1900.

In 1931 it became part of the Kettle Valley Railway's Boundary Subdivision, and in 1955, the branch was named Granby Smelter Spur by the BCR.

Carson Spur
This spur of 2.0 miles from was built by the Columbia & Western in 1901 to create a connection from Cuprum on the C&W mainline to Coopers Wye on the Republic & Kettle River Valley Railway's (R&KRV) line opened that year from Grand Forks to Republic, Washington. The R&KRV was merged into the Washington & Great Northern Railway in 1903, which in turn was absorbed into its parent, the Great Northern Railway, in 1909.

In 1931 it became part of the Kettle Valley Railway's Boundary Subdivision, and in 1955, the branch was named Carson Spur by the BCR.

= Services =

Freight
This line sees extensive freight traffic to and from Grand Forks and Trail, along with through freight from the chemical plant in Nelson.

Cominco's lead and zinc smelter at Trail is the largest in the world.

Passenger
The various categories of passenger service are defined by the Ministry of Labour, Industry & Railways in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport & Communications; these categories are applicable to and used by all railways providing passenger service in British Columbia. Like all other railways in BC, ticket prices for BC Rail passenger trains are based on the Ministry's Schedule of Railway Fares.

Passenger service on the west end of the line (Midway–Grand Forks) is limited to two daily round trips between Kelowna and Christina Lake; service east of Grand Forks is considerably more extensive - the eight daily return trips between Castlegar and Rossland is the most frequent passenger service in British Columbia that is not a commuter service under contract to a public transit authority. All Local trains on the Boundary Line use diesel railcars; the Castlegar - Rossland DC service is the only train that operates between Warfield and Rossland, because the length of the switchbacks at Tiger and Crown Point.

Limited Express
Limited Express trains are BC Rail's fastest and most prestigious trains, making very few or no intermediate stops. They feature free baggage handling for both first and second classes, along with a cafeteria car open to both classes. The Boundary Line sees two international Limited Express services.

All international Limited Express trains feature full-service dining cars open to first and second class passengers, sleeping cars (first class) and sleeperette cars (second class), as well as baggage handling, free of charge for first class passengers, or for a surcharge for second class passengers. International services may be used for domestic travel, but for travel between three or fewer domestic stops a surcharge is applied.


 * 107 Smoke Eater/108 Stampeder (BC Rail/VIA Rail): Trail, BC – Calgary, Alberta, Canada
 * Daily service with a morning departure from each end using one VIA consist and one BC Rail consist, with VIA locomotives and crews working the VIA consists and BC Rail locomotives and crews working the BC Rail consists over the entire route; the westbound train is called Smoke Eater, and the eastbound is the Stampeder. This train runs over the trackage of the BC Rail between Trail and Nelson, and of the Canadian Pacific between Nelson and Calgary. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Castlegar, Nelson, Creston, Cranbrook
 * Alberta: Lethbridge


 * 131/132 International Hiawatha (North Western Pacific/BC Rail): Vancouver, BC (Pacific Central) – Chicago, Illinois, USA
 * Twice-weekly service with eastbound trains departing Vancouver on Wednesdays and Saturdays, westbound trains leaving Chicago on Tuesdays and Fridays; all trains consist of NWP consists. This train runs over the trackage of the BC Rail between Vancouver and Castlegar, and over NWP trackage between Castlegar and Chicago; locomotive changes take place in Castlegar. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Hope, Princeton, Penticton, Grand Forks, Castlegar, Salmo, Nelway (BC and US customs checks)
 * Washington: Metaline Falls, Newport
 * Idaho: Spirit Lake
 * Washington: Spokane
 * Idaho: St Maries
 * Montana: Alberton, Missoula, Butte, Harlowton, Miles City
 * South Dakota: Morristown, Mobridge, Aberdeen
 * Minnesota: Ortonville, Minneapolis, St Paul, Winona
 * Wisconsin: La Crosse, Milwaukee
 * Illinois: Racine

Express
Regular Express trains stop more often than Limited Express trains, but do not make unscheduled stops, featuring baggage handling free of charge to first class passengers, and available to second class passengers for a surcharge, and all include either a full-service dining car or a cafeteria car open to all classes. For travel between three or fewer stops a surcharge is applied. There are two Express trains on the Boundary Line.


 * 51/52 Selkirk Mountaineer: Grand Forks – Nelson
 * Two daily return trips with a cafeteria car. Intermediate stops: Christina Lake, Castlegar, South Slocan


 * 53/54 Monashee Mountaineer: Trail – Nelson
 * Two daily return trips with a cafeteria car. Intermediate stops: Waterloo, Castlegar, South Slocan

Local
Local trains are passenger trains that make scheduled stops at all stations and halts along the route they serve. There are three Local trains on the Boundary Line; all are operated with diesel multiple-unit trainsets or single-unit diesel railcars.


 * 4201D.1-2/4202D.1-2: Kelowna – Lebanon Lake – Midway – Grand Forks – Christina Lake
 * Two daily return trips operated by DMU, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.


 * 5001D.1-3/5002D.1-3: Castlegar – Grand Forks City
 * Three daily return trips operated by DMU, second class only with seat-side drink and snack service.


 * 5003D.1-8/5004D.1-8: Castlegar – Rossland
 * Eight daily return trips operated by a single-unit diesel railcar, second class only, no drink/snack service.

= Route = Italic text indicates a closed station or connection.

● - Scheduled Limited Express, Express, and Local stop ▲ - Scheduled Express and Local stop • - Local stop | - No passenger service