Slluqan Valley Line

The Slluqan Valley Line is a 25.8 mile railway line of the British Columbia Railway (BC Rail) running from Castlegar, where it connects with the Boundary Line and the North Western Pacific Railroad's Kootenay & Pend Oreille Line, to Nelson, where it connects with the Canadian Pacific Railway's Nelson Subdivision and the Washington & British Columbia Railway's Spokane Falls & Northern Line. At South Slocan it connects to the Slocan Lake Line, and prior to 1993 it connected with the Balfour Line at Taghum.

The Slluqan Valley Line is Line 51 of BC Rail's Kootenay Region.

History
The Columbia & Kootenay Railway (C&K) began operation on 31 May 1891 with the opening of its first line of 25.8 miles from Nelson to Castlegar, connecting at the latter to the Canadian Pacific steamboat service to Blaenau on the CPR's transcontinental trunk line. The Kootenay Railway opened a three-foot narrow-gauge line from Balfour to Taghum on the C&K mainline in 1893. This gave the C&K a connection to the steamboat service from Balfour to Kootenay Landing, but the different gauges used by the two railways meant that freight had to be transloaded at Taghum. In 1899 the British Columbia Southern Railway completed its Cranbrook–Kootenay Landing line. The problem of the change-of-gauge remained, however, and in 1901 the C&K bought a share of the Kootenay Railway in order to fund its conversion to standard gauge, which created an all-rail route from Kootenay Landing east to Canada and led to an important increase in traffic for the C&K. The C&K further expanded its operations in 1892 with the opening of its second line, from South Slocan to Slocan City, which was connected by ferry to Rosebery on the Nakusp & Slocan Railway opened the same year. In 1912, the C&K completed its takeover of the Kootenay Railway and absorbed it.

The Columbia & Kootenay Railway was acquired by the Dominion government and merged into Kettle Valley Railway in 1931. Under the KVR, the Castlegar–South Slocan section was part of the Boundary Subdivision, whilst the South Slocan–Nelson section was made part of the Balfour Subdivision. The KVR was in turn absorbed by the British Columbia Railway in 1955, when the entirety of the original mainline of the Columbia & Kootenay Railway became the Columbia & Kootenay Line; it received its current name, Slluqan Valley Line, in 1980.

Freight
This is a relatively short but busy line, with fairly heavy freight traffic, mostly bridge movements between Cranbrook, the east Kootenays and Canada, and the Trail and Grand Forks areas.

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.

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 one 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

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; two are operated with diesel multiple-unit trainsets, the third is a joint BC Rail/CPR service.


 * 5101D.1-5/5102D.1-5: Castlegar – Nelson
 * Five daily return trips operated by DC, second class only, no drink/snack service.


 * 5103D.1-2/5104D.1-2: Castlegar – South Slocan – Slocan City
 * Two daily return trips operated by DC, second class only, no drink/snack service.


 * 5105.1-2/5106.1-2 (BCR/CP): Castlegar – Nelson – Creston
 * Two daily return trips using BCR equipment and on-board crews, first and second class with a cafeteria car. Between Castlegar and Nelson the train runs on BCR trackage and is worked by a BCR locomotive, between Nelson and Creston it runs over CP trackage and is pulled by a CP locomotive. Operational costs and profits are divided between the two railways (BCR 25%, CP 75%).

Route
Italic text indicates a closed connection.

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