Kettle Valley Line

The Kettle Valley Line is a 104.2 mile railway line of the British Columbia Railway (BC Rail) running from Lebanon Lake on the Okanagan Line to Midway on the Boundary Line. It connects with the Washington & British Columbia Railway's Similkameen Line at Rock Creek, sharing the section between there and West Midway with the W&BC.

The Kettle Valley Line is Line 42 of BC Rail's Kettle Valley Region.

The actual trackage - Milepost 0.0 - of the Kettle Valley Line begins at Lebanon Lake, but for administrative and scheduling purposes, Penticton is considered the starting point of the line.

History
The Vernon & Midway Railway (V&M) was chartered in 1908 to build a railway between the two named cities. It wasn't until 1910, however, that work actually began, progressing slowly - by 1912, the V&M had opened only 9 miles from Penticton to Naramata, with a further 40.8 miles from Naramata to Myra via Lebanon Lake graded, partially graded, or cleared.

To face the threat of American influence in the Okanagan and Kootenay regions of the country, in the form of the northwards expansion of the Great Northern Railway from Washington state, the Canadian Pacific Railway and the BCR created the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) as a joint venture in 1912, seeing the necessity of countering the American threat as more important than any domestic economic rivalry. Work was immediately begun on a line from Midway westwards towards Myra, to meet the line being built by the V&M.

The KVR spared neither effort nor expense into building the line quickly and well, completing the 84.2 miles from Midway to Myra in November 1913; by that time, the V&M had completed work only as far as Adra, 11.5 miles from Naramata, leaving a further 29.3 miles left to build to Myra. Consequently, the KVR opted to buy out the V&M, absorbing it on 1 January 1914, and on 14 June 1914, the Penticton–Midway line was opened. Under the KVR, it made up the Carmi Subdivision.

The Washington & British Columbia Railway was created in 1937 as a joint venture between the BCR and the Great Northern, which meant that the two companies were no longer in competition. Therefore, in order to rationalise the network and reduce expenditures, the part of the W&BC's Similkameen Line between Bridesville and West Midway, where it connected with the KVR, was closed. To replace it, a 10.8 mile stretch of new track was built from Bridesville to a spot on the KVR line just west of Rock Creek; this not only reduced the distance between Bridesville and West Midway by 4.4 miles, but had easier grades than the original GN route had had.

When the BCR absorbed the KVR in 1955, the Lebanon Lake–Midway section of the KVR's Carmi Subdivision became the Kettle Valley Line.

Freight
The Kettle Valley Line sees significant amounts of freight, especially from the Cominco smelter at Trail towards the industrial areas of the Okanagan and to Vancouver.

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 Kettle Valley Line sees one international Limited Express service, but it makes no stops along this line.

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.


 * 131/132 International Hiawatha (North Western Pacific/BCR): 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

Local
BC Rail operates only one passenger train on the Kettle Valley Line, a Local service between Kelowna and Christina Lake that makes scheduled stops at all stations and stops on the line. In addition, the Washington & British Columbia operates an international Local service between Sooyoos and Grand Forks via Oroville, Washington, that stops at Rock Creek, Kettle Valley, and Midway.

Being only 8 miles from Kelowna, but 2800 feet higher - which would have required 24 miles of 2.2% grade to connect by rail - there is a shuttle bus service from Kelowna to McCulloch timed to meet all trains.


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


 * 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. (W&BC)

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