The Need for a Railway
At the end of the 19th century, silver ore was discovered in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. Thousands of Americans soon began flooding over the border and to stake mining claims in the area. At the time, the easiest way to export the ore and import supplies was through American railways to the south. It didn't take long for the southern interior of BC to become commercially annexed by the United States of America. The Canadians in the area recognized the need for a Canadian railway in the region into to reclaim the land. |
The Formation of The Kettle Valley Railway Company
However, the involved parties could agree on little else other than the need for a railroad. Two major railway companies, Great Northern (GN) and Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern (VV&E), had a long time rivalry and both jostled to open up the Southern BC interior. While these two large corporations vied for position, James John Warren, a lawyer and president of the smaller and financially floundering 'Kettle Valley Railway' system searched for a way to save his company and start building. He finally enlisted financial assistance from the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), Thomas Shaughnessy, by booking passage on the same steamer across the Atlantic just to talk with him. The ploy worked, and Shaughnessy agreed to assist the KVR. When Warren expressed a need for an engineer to help him design the railway, Shaughnessy immediately recommended Andrew McCulloch, who accepted the position as Chief Engineer of the KVR. With Warren’s organizational skills and McCulloch’s engineering genius, building the KVR started in June 1910. |
Banner photo: Men and women observing the construction of the tunnels. Circa 1914. Photo courtesy of The Okanagan Archive Trust Society.