Mountian railroading

One of many tunnels on CP's Boundary subdivision as pictured from one of the last trains to operate west of Castlegar, BC in southern British Columbia. At this time trains were still run twice per week, westward from Nelson, BC one day and eastward back from Grand Forks, BC the next. Midway, at the western end of the Boundary sub was the eastern end of the Kettle Valley Railway which was part of a direct link from Alberta to the coast through southern BC.

Sadly this line saw its last train in 1990. At that time the line was a candidate for a shortline operator but none was found and no time was wasted in salvaging the line, the track was pulled up west of Castlegar in 1991. No doubt the extra cost of operating this branch up and over the Monashee mountains was a motivating factor in the line's demise.