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The haunting whistle of trains along the Kettle Valley Railway line were heard throughout the Boundary region of southern British Columbia for nearly 85 years. To this day, the railway still connects people with feelings of pride and community, just as it did when engines first hurtled down its tracks in the early 20th century. Although the Kettle Valley section of the line was just part of the system, building the railway there was a brutal undertaking. Because of this and because of the spectacular beauty of the area, the railway was named in its honour.
The Boundary region was an isolated stop along the line, nestled between two mountain passes at the Canada-U.S. border near the 49th parallel. The heart of the area is the 700-person village of Midway, so named because it is half way between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. The town, Mile 0 of the railway, is now the departure point for an exhibition that follows the history of the line. Using oral and written accounts, it covers the time before the railway, when travellers and residents could only reach the area by packhorse. It then explores the railway’s heyday and follows community history to the present, showing how the legacy of the line lives on along the Trans Canada Trail. The exhibition pairs images of trains rolling through hayfields, pine forests and grasslands with the memories of the people who lived and worked in the area.
Visitors are welcome to climb aboard; there’s so much to see and hear along the line.
