Washington & Great Northern Line

The Washington & Great Northern Line is an 81.0 mile (14.4 miles in BC) railway line of the Washington & British Columbia Railway (W&BC) running from Republic, Washington to Kettle Falls, Washington, on the Spokane Falls & Northern Line. A 14.4 mile section of the line runs through British Columbia, with a 3.0 mile branch to Grand Forks, where it connects with the Phoenix Line and BC Rail's Boundary Line; as well, at Curlew, WA, it connects to the Similkameen Line.

The Washington & Great Northern Line is Line 90 and the Grand Forks Branch is Line 901 of the Kettle Falls Region of the W&BC.

= History = The Republic & Kettle River Valley Railway opened in 1901 with a 36.0 mile line from Republic, Washington to Grand Forks, BC, where it connected with the Columbia & Western Railway's Rossland–Midway mainline. Construction pressed on towards Kettle Falls, Washington, but before the line was completed, the R&KRV was bought out by the Great Northern Railway. The GN finished the line in 1903, reorganising the R&KRV as a subsidiary called the Washington & Great Northern Railway; this subsidiary was absorbed by the GN in 1909.

When the Great Northern's BC operations were spun off into the Washington & British Columbia Railway in 1937, the W&BC's system was changed from the Division-Subdivision system used by the GN to the system of Lines used by the BCR, and this line - formerly the Republic Subdivision - was designated Washington & Great Northern Line.

Grand Forks Branch
The Grand Forks Branch was opened in 1901 as part of the R&KVR's mainline from Republic, becoming a branch line after the opening of the rest of the line to Kettle Falls in 1903. The original R&KVR/GN depot at Grand Forks was closed in 1957, with a connecting line being built from Columbia Junction on the Passenger Depot Spur to the BCR (formerly Kettle Valley Railway) depot there on the Boundary Line.

= Services =

Freight
Three scheduled freight trains run daily on the Washington & Great Northern Line, along with a number of extras on most days.

Passenger
The W&BC operates a number of passenger services on this line - an Express and three Local services - two international and one domestic - running year-round.

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.

Express
The W&BC's only Express train on the Similkameen 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
 * BC: Carson (BC and US customs checks), Grand Forks
 * Washington: Laurier (BC and US customs checks), 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. Three Local services are operated on the Similkameen Line, two international and one domestic. Train numbers with no letter suffix are locomotive-hauled; the suffix 'D' denotes trains operated by diesel trainsets (called "diesel cars", or "DC" for short, by the W&BC).

International

 * 4403.1-2/4404.1-2: Sooyoos, BC – Oroville, Washington, USA – Grand Forks, BC
 * Two daily return trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car.


 * 9001.1-2/9002.1-2: Republic, Washington, USA – Grand Forks, BC – Kettle Falls, Washington, USA – Spokane, Washington, USA
 * Two daily return trips, first and second class with a cafeteria car.

Domestic

 * 9021D.1-2/9022D.1-2: Grand Forks – Phoenix
 * Two daily return trips operated by DC, second-class only, no drink/snack service.

= Route = A grey background indicates a closed section, italic text indicates a closed station.

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