Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway

The Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway(N&FS) is a historic Canadian railway that operated in the southern interior of British Columbia.

The N&FS connected the city of Nelson with the International Boundary at Waneta, near Trail. The line was acquired by the Great Northern Railway in 1898.

History

The railway was built by Daniel Chase Corbin, an American financier. In 1888, he built north from Spokane, Washington with his Spokane Falls and Northern Railway(SF&N) to Little Dalles (near modern Northport) in the United States by 1890.

The British Columbia government resisted granting him a charter to build across the border into Canada because of concerns the government was concerned that the railway would only be a feeder railway to the American interests in Spokane, especially the Great Northern Railway. With the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company provider boat access along the Columbia River to his railway he had indirect access to the rich mining areas of the Kootenays. Concerned with this development, the Canadian Pacific Railway reacted by building the Columbia and Kootenay Railway(C&K) between Robson (near Castlegar) and Nelson in 1891 along the unnavigable section of the Kootenay River between Kootenay Lake and the Arrow Lakes.

In 1891, Corbin received a charter from the Canadian government for the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway by promising to connect the railway to the coast and by using a group of Canadian businessmen as a front for the railway. The connection to the coast was never built but the railway did reach Nelson in 1893. The railway's name comes from the former Hudson's Bay Company fort, Fort Shepherd, on bank of the Columbia River on the United States border, even though the spelling is different. With an all rail route to the United States and direct access to the Great Northern, the N&FS could provide more direct access to markets than the CPR could with its C&K.

Legacy

The railway line was operated by a variety of corporate owners following the GN acquisition in 1898. The GN was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) in 1970. The creation of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) in 1996 saw the N&FS receive its third change in ownership.

The track was gradually abandoned south from Nelson to Salmo during the 1990s. The only significant traffic source on the line is related to the forestry industry in the form of wood products.

The abandoned section from Salmo to Nelson has been acquired by the provincial government and converted to a rail trail - see Salmo-Troup Rail Trail.

Route

Map showing Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway

From south to north, the railway started at the United States border on the Columbia River at Waneta, and crossed a 500-foot bridge over the Pend d'Oreille River that still stands. The railway climbed out of the Columbia Valley past the community of Fruitvale to Salmo. From Salmo, the railway went north up the Salmo River valley to Ymir and then began the descent to Kootenay Lake. The line passed Nelson to the east as it descends along the hillside. It reaches lake level at Troup Junction (also known as File Mile Point), about 6 km east of Nelson and returned at lake level to the city. When the Canadian Pacific Railway built along Kootenay Lake in 1900, the section between Nelson and Troup Junction was sold to the CPR and GN was given trackage rights.

References

• Salmo-Troup Trail
• Sanford, Barrie McCulloch's Wonder: The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway