Manning Park Line

The Manning Park Line is a 90.5 mile railway line of the Washington & British Columbia Railway (W&BC) running from Hope on BC Rail's Inter-Dominion Line to Princeton on the Similkameen Line. At Hope it also connects to BC Rail's Coquihalla Line and via that to the Cascade Subdivision of the Canadian Pacific Railway's transcontinental mainline, whilst at Princeton it connects to two BC Rail lines, the Syilx Line and the Tullameen Line. Furthermore, the W&BC has running rights over the Inter-Dominion Line to Chilliwack, where there is a connection to the W&BC's VV&E Line.

The Manning Park Line is Line 43 of the Similkameen Region of the W&BC.

= History = The Manning Park Line was opened by the Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railway in 1913 as the link connecting the VV&E's Vancouver–Hope and Princeton–Midway–Curlew, Washington lines, both of which had been opened in 1911. The opening of this line fulfilled the plan of building a Coast-to-Okanagan railway.

The VV&E was absorbed by its parent company, the Great Northern Railway, in 1921, after the Dominion government decided to allow the GN to absorb the BC-chartered subsidiaries' operations into its own, so long as the subsidiaries continued to exist on paper. In 1937, the GN spun off its BC operations into the Washington & British Columbia Railway; at that time, the line was given its current name.

= Services = Being the most direct route from Vancouver to the southern Interior of BC, the Manning Park Line is quite busy, seeing several passenger and freight trains each day.

Freight
The most important commodity moved via the Manning Park Line is copper ore from the large mine at Copper Mountain, some heading west for export via the port of Vancouver, and some heading east to smelters in the Boundary Country of BC. It also serves an important role in moving fruit from the Okanagan and refined metal from the Boundary smelters to the coast, and for bringing imported goods from Vancouver to the Okanagan, the Boundary Country, and onwards to the Kootenays.

High Line Station is the starting point of a 1.6 mile spur to the ore dump and a track scale; in the days of steam locomotives, there were additional railway facilities here - an engine house, a turntable, a water tank, and sanding and coaling facilities. Steam operations on the Manning Park Line ended in 1968, but these facilities were removed only in 1974.

Passenger
The W&BC operates a number of passenger services on this line - the Coast–Kootenay, an Express between Vancouver and Nelson, and two Local services running year-round; additionally, in the Summer timetable only there is a Limited Express, the Hozameen Limited, between Vancouver and Manning Park.

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.

Limited Express
The W&BC operates one seasonal Limited Express making very few or no intermediate stops; this makes no stops on the Victoria Terminal Line, running between Mud Bay and Cloverdale before moving to the VV&E Line.


 * 431/432 Hozameen Limited: Vancouver (Pacific Central) – Manning Park
 * One return trip daily Friday through Sunday, summer timetable only. First and second class chair cars with a cafeteria car, baggage service free of charge to both classes. Intermediate stops: Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope

Express
The W&BC's only Express train on the VV&E Line is an international service. The short-trip surcharge is not applicable to travel occuring entirely inside Washington state on this trains.


 * 171/172 Coast–Kootenay: Vancouver (Pacific Central) – Nelson
 * Daily service with a morning departure from each end. First and second class chair cars only (no sleeping accomodations), with a cafeteria car; baggage handling free of charge to first class passengers, and available to second class passengers with a surcharge. This train does not stop anywhere on the section between Bridesville and West Midway. Intermediate stops:
 * BC: Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope, Manning Park, Allenby, Princeton, Keremeyus, Chopaka (BC and US customs checks)
 * Washington: Oroville, Molson, Curlew, Danville (BC and US customs checks)
 * BC: Grand Forks, Billings (BC and US customs checks)
 * Washington: Kettle Falls
 * BC: Waneta (BC and US customs checks), Columbia Gardens, Salmo

Local
Local trains are passenger trains that make scheduled stops at all stations and halts along the route they serve. Both of the Local services operated by the W&BC on the Manning Park Line are domestic services. A third Local is operated by BC Rail. BC Rail also operates a workday-only railbus service from Princeton to Copper Mountain in the morning and returning in the evening, for employees of the mine; this service is open only to mine workers and is not shown in public timetables.


 * 1701.1-2/1702.1-2 (W&BC): Vancouver (Pacific Central) – Princeton
 * Two daily return trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car. Runs between Mud Bay and Cloverdale on the Victoria Terminal Line.


 * 4111D.1-3/4112D.1-3 (BC Rail): Tullameen – Princeton – Allenby
 * Three daily return trips operated by diesel trainsets, second class only, no drink/snack service. The 6 mile section between Princeton and Allenby is W&BC trackage, over which the BCR has running rights for this train; the W&BC is not involved with this service in any way, however as with all W&BC and BC Rail trains, tickets for this train can be bought at any W&BC station.

Two daily return trips operated by diesel trainsets, first and second class with a cafeteria compartment.
 * 4301D.1-2/4302D.1-2 (W&BC): Hope – Princeton – Keremeyus

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