Grand Forks

Kevin Dunk

Nestled in the Boundary Country lies the very historic town of Grand Forks. Back during the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s Grand Forks was one busy town being served by a handful of railways! Servicing Grand Falls, the Phoenix copper mine, and the Granby Smelter.

The Grand Forks Railroad (GFR), operates approximately 3½ miles of track which certainly rates it right up there as perhaps the shortest railway in BC. I think the folks at the Nelson & Fort Sheppard Rly (N&FS) at Fruitvale might have some competition as to who is the shortest operator in the land. Funny thing, both of these small rail operations share the same common interchange company – the Kettle Falls International Railway (KFR) out of Kettle Falls WA! The other common thread they share is their sole purpose - handling wood traffic from a single mill; Atco for the N&FS while its Interfor for the GFR.

The GFR, owned by Mainline Management Ltd. (a stand-alone very small company), have been operating since 1993 after Rick Hammond of Mainline (along with a small team of experts for the locomotive and track maintenance) got the ball rolling after the CPR gave up their stake in the Boundary Country. The GFR currently staffs 3 regular crew members with switching scheduled at 5 days a week. Also, when not switching the crew are often seen out and about doing track or locomotive maintenance.

Normally an average 5 to 8 loads per switch but lately the supply of empties has been down. The Interfor rail yard certainly shows that to be the case with much bundled wood waiting for shipment. The GFR interchange with the KFR about every other day, I was there on April 8th 2014 and the KFR were scheduled to arrive the following day sometime in the late afternoon. I can see right now another road trip where I’ll have to cover the KFR!

Grand Forks: Named for its location at the confluence of the Kettle and Granby Rivers, Grand Forks was the centre of B.C.’s mining and railway activity at the turn of the century. Incorporated as a city in 1897, Grand Forks had to wait only two years for the Canadian Pacific to begin operations from Nelson.

Cuprum (MP93.3 ex-CP Boundary Sub): A former junction and wye originally named R&GF Junction (for Republic & Grand Forks Railway, the unofficial name of the Kettle River Valley Railway and the [U.S.] Republic & Kettle River Railway), Cuprum is a name for copper, once an important mineral to the area. Currently the locomotive staging area for the GFR.

Carson Spur (2.0 miles): This spur was constructed by the Kettle River Valley Railway in 1901 as part of the route from Grand Forks to Republic, Washington. When the line was abandoned in 1919, this segment of the spur was retained by the CPR for use as an interchange with the Great Northern Railway, followed by the Burlington Northern Railway, and currently by the Kettle Falls International Railway. Because of grades and curvature, the spur is limited to only 7 loaded cars.

PoW (Picture of the Week) #13-14.1, .2 and .3 indicates location of photographs.

During my 11 hour drive back home from the coast I decided to take a break and pop in to see what was going on with the GFR. Like all previous trips – pretty quiet, but nonetheless a bit of time to stretch the legs and photograph GFR’s SW8 6703 of CPR heritage. Of note, this 64 year old locomotive is getting pretty rare in Canada and even rarer for a railway to have it as its sole locomotive, kudos to the staff for maintaining this little SW8! Anyway, I was all done and about to leave when along comes this pickup. I pause, then realize this was an employee coming to check the locomotive. After introducing myself I was stunned to find out the crew was about to start work!! After all these years I finally scored some action on the GFR. This operation might be small but they certainly work fast. From the time the locomotive was revved up and started to roll, to the end of switching duties - 2 hours were gone, just like that! As they say “Timing is everything”.

Here’s the basic operation that I witnessed:

Shut down. Plugged in.

Started work around 1430 PT at Cuprum.

Headed up the Carson Spur light engine backwards to pick up 3 empty lumber cars spotted by the KFR just east of the Pacific Abrasives & Supply slag processing plant. PoW #13-14.1 pulling empties back to Cuprum.

Dropped empties at Cuprum. Trundled down the old CPR Boundary Sub. into the Interfor Yard from west end of yard,
and proceeded to push 3 loaded lumber cars all the way up to Pacific Abrasive, return light engine hood forward.

Pick up empty lumber cars at Cuprum, enter the Interfor yard from the east yard switch and spot cars.
PoW#13-14.3 pulling empties from Cuprum for spotting in the Interfor Yard.

Run to west end and return to Cuprum on the old CPR Boundary Sub track.
Engine tied down at 1615 PT, done!

GMTX 86 (nee BN 378) SW1000 EMD newly arrived addition. 8/18/2019

Grand Forks April 28, 1998 Pete Kovanda.

Grand Forks 6703 acq. 4/ 1993 (ex CP 6703) SW8 800HP GMD A113 12/1950 Jim Spurway

Subsequent owner; Donated 7/2022 E&N Div. CRHA.

Long-time London Division yard engine 6703 (SW8 GMD A113 6/1950) crosses the C&O Diamond in 1980. Al Howlett

6703 long a London Division yard engine is shown in Sudbury. September 24, 1989 Marty Bernard

Columbia & Western