All rail service stopped from Midway to Penticton (including the famed Myra Canyon section) in May 1973, with the trackage officially being labelled as abandoned in 1978. Rails along this section were removed in 1979 as the result of a grant of abandonment from the Canadian Transport Commission.In 1977 the CP abandon part of the Osoyoos Subdivision from Okanagan Falls to Osoyoos. This was due to the loss of fruit traffic to trucks. The remainder of the KVR was doing quite well. There were 3 trains a week serving the various saw mills. This all ended in the mid 80's when there was a downturn in the forest industry, and as a result the CPR lost all woodchip traffic to trucks. From this point the KVR quickly quickly demised. The final abandonment was in spring 1990.

A Phone Call from Red Deer, Alberta.

Little did I know that my first rail trail I would explore would be one of Canada's finest.  I was lucky a good friend of mine has a great memory for it was he who suggested we do the trip.  First, a little background on how this trip all came about.

Sometime back in 1992 during Canada's 125th birthday celebrations the formation of the Trans Canada Trail was announced.  I remember an article being published in Canadian Geographic magazine about the trail and the maps that were included.  Mostly I remember the path the trail was to take across southern British Columbia, this was over the former Kettle Valley Railway, a line I always wished I had the chance to ride over but because of the discontinuance of  passenger service in 1964, I never did.  

Map Credit: Joe Smuin

A most valuable tool when exploring the KVR

Exactly when I told my friend Franco about this trail or about the Kettle Valley Railway I do not know.  Likewise, when I told Franco about the 2003 forest fire that destroyed 12 of the 18 trestles in the Myra Canyon, I do not know.  What I do remember is Franco calling me from his home in Red Deer and asking me when we were going to ride the bike trail through the Myra Canyon.  What prompted his call was an article he had just finished reading in the Red Deer Advocate, this article was about the reopening of  the Kettle Valley Trail through the Myra Canyon. 

The second and by far the most important factor in my decision in saying "yes" was the fact that Franco had just recovered from a bout of cancer.  I remember hesitating for a brief second before answering in the affirmative, I'll work out the logistics of the trip later I thought to myself.

In the middle of this raging inferno is the jewel of the Kettle Valley Trail, the Myra Canyon. Photo: Kelowna Courier 

In a matter of days I had a blue-print of the trip all planed out.  Because I had driven many miles all over British Columbia and Alberta I knew what each town had to offer in way of food, accomondation and other services.  All that was left for me to do was to run the itinary by Franco to see what he thought, what he might want to add or remove and to see if he could book the time off from work. 

Franco who is one of the most easy going person I know said everything was just fine.  He did ask if we could add our friend Larry(see photo on page 1) to the list. "Sure, no problem" was my response.

Fast Forward to 2006

Up until this time all my exploring of existing railways, abandoned railway lines and other railway infrastructure was done by car, truck or train...very minimal walking or running was needed.  Oh, sure there was the dash to the head end of the train to snap a portrait of the power, the sprint back to an open vestibule to re-board my ready to depart train or the climb up a steep hill to gain elevation for a more pleasing shot of a train, those few times when my heart started to work were few and far between.

I have to this point in my life, been blessed with good health in spite of my poor eating habits and other self inflicted punishments I subjected my body to.  With the help of Larry (see photo on page 1) and my good doctor, Alsoon Brine, I was able to quit smoking.  Dr. Bryne was not quite satisfied with my quitting smoking, she wanted more. She wanted exercise in order to keep my high sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure in check.   I pleaded with her that I walk miles each day at work but she wanted something to make me sweat and increase my heart rate.  She thought cross-country skiing or biking would help if I wasn't keen on joining a gym.

I thought if I was going to exercise it would be with purpose not just working out in a room with others sentenced to the same fate as I for treating our bodies so poorly in our younger days.  No, I decided to bike, to go places, to see new sights, to learn new things while  at the same time helping my body out.

The first thing that I had to do after I decided to take up biking was simple...go out and buy a bike.  Now bikes have changed quite a bit since the days of my new 3 speed CCM.  18, 21, 24 speeds are now common, frames are stronger and lighter but not necessarily built out of steel, who would have ever thought "disk brakes" on a bike! Yes, lots has changed with bikes over the years including the prices!

My choice was the Sedona LX in blue.

The new wheels were great and I loved the disk brakes. As a result of my purchase being so late in the season I did not get out too much before the first snows hit Ottawa and forced me parked my bike for the winter, sigh! The late fall is a good time to buy accessories for a bike as the cost of the item(s) generally greatly reduced in price. Also after purchasing these parts, one has all winter to install them. All that remains then is to wait for spring's arrival.

In the beginning...

In the beginning there were lots of trains, going to lots of places, then things started to change.  The "local" no longer stopped at Sand Point.  The short walk to the station became a 5 mile drive to the CPR station in Arnprior.

Trains and tracks going everywhere...

The improvements to The King's Highway meant shorter travel times between Arnprior and Ottawa, resulting in fewer passengers taking the train.  Soon the "local" was history. This cycle was happening all over the Dominion at an ever faster pace.  Not only were the passenger trains abandoned, so were the freight services, ultimately the tracks themselves were removed.  What to do with unused strips of land became the next question.

Cars, trucks & asphalt  replaced coaches, box cars & rails, road maps replaced timetables...

In some cases the railways sold the ROW (right of way) to the adjacent landowners or to the county in which the line ran through.  In the mid-sixties another phenomenon happened in the American Midwest, people started walking, snowshoeing or skiing down these unused ROWs.  This was a time before dirt bikes, ATVs or snowmobiles became popular. By the mid-seventies the environment and conservation movement gained more predominance in the hearts and minds of the general public.  The idea of land banking these ROWs  for possible future use as transportation corridors appealed to a lot of folks.  Using these ROWs as recreational trails in the interim was even more appealing, the "Rail to Trails" movement was born.

CPR's Chalk River sub being lifted, this was the line that ran directly in front our home in Sand Point, ON.  Photo: Mike Britt

Although I did miss the opportunity to ride many trains because of my age and the money to do so, I did get to ride to places over lines that are not around to do so today.   Victoria, Kelowna, Waterways, Red Deer, Davidson, Fort Qu'Appelle, Hadishville, Lynn Lake, Kakabeka Falls, St Thomas, Vankleek Hill, Granby, Chicoutimi, Fredericton, Chipman, Clarksville, Liverpool, Gaff Topsail and Argentia are a few of the place I was able to take a train to that one can't today. 

CN Extra 6112 at Fort Qu'Appelle,SK on a sunny fall day in 1976. The tracks remain but the passenger service is long gone.

I have been cycling since I was six years old.  I loved my bike because it was a means to explore worlds even farther from home.  Finding railway facilities or going fishing was always high on the list when biking.  In my mind turning abandon railway lines into bike trails was a match made in heaven!

In 1967, the 3 speed bike was "the dream bike" if one was interested in touring.  Single speed bikes were fine around town but did not cut it out on the road. This of course is in the mind of a 12 year old boy earning the princely sum of 8 to 10 dollars a week delivering papers, mowing lawns, caddieing  and babysitting.  By the age of fourteen I had the CCM three speed bike I wanted, thank-you Santa!  The money I saved for the bike now was put towards bike accessories such as carriers, lights, tools and towards slide film for my Kodak "Instamatic" camera.