Kettle Valley Railway - Huffing Along the Steamy Kettle Valley Railway

A unique slice of BC rail history

With a thunderous roar and clouds of smoke and steam, the mixed freight cuts through the canyon and out over an elevated trestle. Far below, a wisp of water snakes its way through a rocky gorge. The locomotive engineer gives a nod and his assistant is back on the shovel, feeding the boilers with more coal. There’s a climb ahead and old 3401 will need all the power it can muster.

Just another day on the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR), a 500-kilometer lifeline between British Columbia’s productive heart - the ore wealth of the Kootenays - and the seaport city of Vancouver.

But, I’m day dreaming as I pedal my mountain bike through box canyons and tunnels. Listening closely I can surely hear a steam train rounding the bend ahead, its hiss and fuss frozen in time to be unleashed by the imaginations of hundreds of cyclists, hikers, cross-country skiers, or horseback riders attracted all year round to this unique slice of BC rail history.

That the railway closed in 1964 for passengers and hauled its last freight in 1989 doesn’t matter for steam buffs like me. I can feel it, taste it, love it, and the pedaling grind just varies the scenes and the senses. The Kettle Valley Railways lives on today in the hearts and minds of generations who never saw it.

When the crews built the railway between 1910 and 1915 they had clear instructions to keep the gradient to a manageable 2.2 meters per 100 meters as it tackled three separate mountain ranges.

I began my Kettle Valley dream with Venturer Scouts (all with legs anxious and relatively untried after only 16-18 years of use) at Mile Zero, a town known as Midway - named because of its geographic location halfway across BC

Our cycling journey would cover 340 kilometers of that historic route between Midway and Princeton. By the way, while Beaverdell at kilometer 68 may boast BC’s oldest operating hotel, my money is on the milkshakes and hamburgers at the café across the street.

This was a trip of a lifetime.

And nowhere is the journey more spectacular than in the Myra Canyon where the day trippers are out in force from Kelowna and Penticton as our express train of bikers whizzes by.

The ride is a canyon-hugging adrenalin rush over a series of 18 trestles and through two tunnels on the descent to Penticton. What breathtaking views, what a thrill ride with hair-raising drops for the unwary or those with failing brakes. And what a great place for my first and only puncture.

Later, as we swept through the orchards of the Okanagan Valley descending into the lake city of Penticton, we were reminded that the KVR is still a work in progress as it forms part of the coast-to-coast Trans-Canada Trail. Orchardists have gated off sections of the old railbed, forcing users onto Naramata Road to reach the lake.

For us, the exit from Penticton was also spoiled as the railway climbed again to Summerland, some 15 kilometers away. Treacherous, strength-sapping sand replaced the usual gravel bed. Even our youth could hardly do more than 100-200 meters before stopping for water and air.

That small section of our 340-kilometre journey also gave a hint of a sting in the tail of the old KVR even today.

After battling kilometers of sandy trail on our climb we watched dark clouds and then a noisy electrical storm sweep over the valley just as we reached the highest point on the railway, the Trout Creek Bridge, some 238 feet above the waters below.

We had crossed 20 or more trestles on the trip so far - most had been lovingly restored and boarded over to give a smoother ride, complete with safety handrails. Not Trout Creek. Not this stormy day. There were no handrails, just heart-stopping glimpses between rail ties of the drop below.

I know, I know. Prevailing wisdom says get off the high points during a storm. We walked our bikes, braved the buffeting winds, lightning flashes and the boom of thunder and made it safely. In every way that was the high point of our trip.

Today the Kettle Valley Railway is an inviting ride. You can do as much or as little as you want. Walk it, cross-country ski it. Any way, it’s a tantalizing history lesson, a glimpse back into the pioneering rail roots of British Columbia.

If you go: The KVR is well served on the web. Visit authors Dan and Sandra Langford whose book “Cycling the Kettle Valley Railway” is now in its third edition in stores and on-line. Their web site www.planet.eon.net/~dan/ attracts frequent first-hand reports from recent users.

The trail changes each year with washouts, streams to ford, and storm falls to contend with so take time to check things out. The route is also liberally-spaced with bed and breakfast retreats, some lake resorts, and campgrounds for the hardy who want to see the stars.

Author: Ray Dykes