Kaslo and Slocan Railway

Template:Short description Template:Single source The Kaslo and Slocan Railway (K&S) is a historic railway that operated in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia in western Canada. The K&S connected Kaslo and Sandon. Initially a narrow-gauge railway, the line was later rebuilt to standard gauge. Template:Multiple image

Narrow gauge

Proposal

The 1891 discovery of silver in the Slocan Range created a mining boom. A railway to transport ore was crucial for commercial mining. In 1892, the province issued the charter to promoter John Hendry for a standard gauge line, amended to Template:Convert narrow gauge in 1894.Template:Sfn Planned was a western terminal at Cody, with a spur to Sandon.Template:Sfn The May 1893 stock market collapse and drop in the silver priceTemplate:Sfn depressed the economy, which delayed construction and prompted the narrow gauge decision. This choice halved construction costs.Template:Sfn Steamboat connections on Kootenay Lake were southward from Kaslo to Five Mile Point (east of Nelson), which linked with the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway.Template:Sfn

Construction

In 1893, the Great Northern Railway (GN) agreed to fund the project.Template:Sfn Foley Bros & Guthrie were the principal contractors.Template:Sfn Grading began in May 1895. Porter Bros. were the subcontractors for the trestles, the railway wharf at Kaslo, and most of the tracklaying.Template:Sfn The westward rail head reached the revised terminal of Sandon that October.Template:Sfn The route was Template:Convert of which Template:Convert attracted a Template:Convert per mile land grant.Template:Sfn

Operation

In November 1895, the first ore was carried.Template:Sfn The next month, disputes with the N&S, a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) subsidiary, led to violent confrontations.Template:Sfn Template:Further Initially offering lower rates than the N&S, the K&S carried over 80 per cent of Slocan ore,Template:Sfn but the proximity of track to the mines determined the carrier in most instances.Template:Sfn Agreeing to avoid rate wars, a tenuous truce existed.Template:Sfn

File:Cody station 1993.jpg

Former station, Cody, BC, 1993

In the absence of snow sheds,Template:Sfn avalanches closed the line for days.Template:Sfn The route incurred the highest expense per train mile in Canada. The K&S bought the Rio Grande Southern Railroad (RGS) rotary snowplow #1 in February 1897,Template:Sfn and the Lucky Jim snowshed was erected in late 1899.Template:Sfn However, slides comprising timber, mud, and rock, destroyed trestles and track throughout the life of the line.Template:Sfn The Kaslo–Sandon–Cody passenger and freight service was daily, but Sandon–Cody reduced to twice weekly in November 1901.Template:Sfn

By 1898, the K&S showed a healthy operating profit. Earnings per train mile ranked among the best in Canada, but costs were among the worst.Template:Sfn Consolidating related enterprises, the Kootenay Railway and Navigation Co. (KR&N), a new venture and GN subsidiary, acquired the K&S from the original investors that year.Template:Sfn In 1900, apart from 2,857 shares acquired in 1906, the KR&N became a wholly owned GN subsidiary.Template:Sfn

Demise

Declining traffic led to mixed trains by 1902,Template:Sfn the final year to achieve an operating profit.Template:Sfn In 1904, CP declined an offer to buy the line.Template:Sfn The next year, scheduled service to Cody ceased.Template:Sfn In May 1908, slides rendered McGuigan Creek bridge unsafe for regular traffic. The final commercial train ran from Sandon that November, making McGuigan the western terminal.Template:Sfn In October 1909, temporary bridge repairs reopened the closed section to facilitate the removal of track and sundry infrastructure.Template:Sfn In July 1910, a forest fire destroyed almost everything west of Sproule's, which became the revised western terminal. CP having reiterated disinterest in a purchase, GN ceased operations in January 1911.Template:Sfn

Revival

In May 1911, a local syndicate bought the K&S for $25,000. Trains ran throughout the summer as far as Mile 12Template:Sfn and to Sproule's in December and January.Template:Sfn Service resumed the following April.Template:Sfn CP assumed control in May 1912,Template:Sfn but regular service to Sproule's was suspended until July. Operational until just after Christmas, the line also carried materials for the rebuild.Template:Sfn Construction trains operated from March 1913 and regular service from June.Template:Sfn The remaining narrow gauge equipment was withdrawn around April 1914.Template:Sfn

Standard gauge

Proposal

In fall 1911, a $313,000 reconstruction estimate deterred CP from proceeding.Template:Sfn However, the provincial government offered a large cash injection, which comprised a $100,000 grant and the repurchase of land grants elsewhere yielding $1,626,030, less the $25,000 purchase price.Template:Sfn

Construction

Reconstruction commenced from both ends. At Parapet junction, east of Three Forks, the right-of-way doubled back before crossing Seaton Creek. Tracklaying commenced in summer 1912.Template:Sfn A steam shovel excavated the grade for Parapet–Zincton, which opened in September 1912. After a hiatus exceeding two years, the Lucky Jim Mine resumed shipping ore. The next month, grading commenced for Zincton–Whitewater. The existing track was temporarily changed to standard gauge. In November, ore was moving from the mine. The permanent track opened the following month.Template:Sfn In November 1913, the eastward advance reached Mile 12 and then Kaslo.Template:Sfn During summer 1914, the route was ballastedTemplate:Sfn and a turntable installed at Kaslo. In the fall, a new station building opened at Kaslo.Template:Sfn

Operation

During December 1913 to March 1914, service westward terminated at Mile 12. In July 1914, a free Kaslo–Nakusp passenger excursion ran.Template:Sfn The schedule settled into three times weekly.Template:Sfn The final weekly passenger train travelled northeast of Rosebery in 1933. Damage from the 1955 floods on Carpenter Creek ended all traffic east of Denver Canyon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:A Mountain - From the K&S (214122021).jpg

View from K&S right-of-way, 2006

Route

The original route climbed steeply northwestward at 3.25 per cent from Kaslo to the first bench, followed by a steady climb to the pass at Bear Lake, the summit. The remainder stayed near level, negotiated Payne Bluff, over Template:Convert above the Three Forks confluence, and terminated at Sandon. Tight curves were numerous. A spur served the Cody mines farther up the valley above Sandon.Template:Sfn

The gradient of the revised route northeastward from Three Forks to Zincton was heavy, reaching 4.8 per cent. Northwestward from Kaslo, 3.4 per cent was the maximum. Three Forks to Sandon was 4.5 per cent southeastward.Template:Sfn

Kaslo–Sandon–Cody
	Feature	Stations
	MileTemplate:Sfn	MileTemplate:Sfn	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> !! 1908Template:Sfn !! Mile !! 1914Template:Sfn !! Mile !!1929<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> !! Mile !! 1932<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> !! Mile !! 1935{{#if:a|a|[1]}}<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Common route		Template:00.0	Kaslo	Kaslo	25.6	Kaslo	Template:00.0	Kaslo	Template:00.0	Kaslo	Template:00.0	Kaslo
					20.1	Zwickey	Template:05.5	Zwicky	Template:05.5	Zwicky	Template:05.4	Zwicky
		Template:05.7	South Fork	South Fork
					13.5	Adamant	12.1	Keen	12.1	Keen	12.0	Keen
		15.4	Sproule's	Sproule's	10.1	Blaylock	15.5	Blaylock	15.5	Blaylock	15.5	Blaylock
		18.0	Whitewater	Whitewater	Template:07.5	Retallack	18.1	Retallack	18.1	Retallack	17.9	Retallack
		19.9	Bear Lake	Bear Lake	Template:05.7	Glegerich	19.9	Glegerich	19.9	Glegerich	19.8	Glegerich
					Template:04.8	Zincton	20.8	Zincton	20.8	Zincton	20.7	Zincton
Original route		21.0		Lucky Jim
	Template:Maybe	Lucky Jim snowshed
		22.7	McGuigan	McGuigan
	Template:Maybe	McGuigan Creek bridge
	Template:Maybe	Payne Bluff
		24.8	Bailey's	Bailey's
		26.3		Payne Tram
		26.5	Cody Jctn.	Cody Jctn.
		27.7		Wood
Revised route					Template:02.7	Rambler	22.9	Rambler	22.9	Rambler	22.5	Rambler
					Template:00.0	Parapet	25.6	Parapet	25.6	Parapet	25.5	Parapet
Common destination		28.2	Sandon	Sandon	Template:Small		28.9	Sandon	28.9	Sandon		Sandon
Original route Template:Small		Template:00.0	Cody Jctn.
		Template:03.1	Cody

Maps

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Rail trail

The hiking trail to Payne Bluff is accessible from Sandon or Three Forks.<ref >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Kaslo River Trailway follows sections of the right-of-way between Kalso and Three Forks.<ref >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

References

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