A bit of history of the Kettle Vally Railway
As the interior of British Columbia revealed more and more wealth in deposits of copper, silver and gold there arose the need to build extensive railway systems throughout both Western Canada and the Northwest USA.
A great deal of competition arose between rivalry railways – particularly the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the Great Northern Railway. Both wanted access to the Boundary Region of BC and many a battle was fought over the area. Midway, or Mile 0, was the stage for many of these brawls and it was here that Andrew McCulloch began his engineering feat for the victorious CPR in 1910. With not only battles of men to contend with, this new railway then had to be built through the forces of nature, including the Myra Canyon which was eventually crossed with no less than 18 trestles and 2 tunnels with a 2.2% grade.
The railway was completed on May 31, 1915 and stretched from Midway across the southern interior to Merritt.
