Nicola, Kamloops & Similkameen Railway

The Nicola, Kamloops & Similkameen Railway was a railway between Spences Bridge and Merritt in British Columbia. It was originally chartered in 1891, but construction didn't start until 1905 when it was taken over by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It operated as part of the Kettle Valley Railway division of the CPR. It was abandoned and the track removed in 1991.

Early History

The region near the town of Merritt and especially north along the Nicola River and Nicola Lake had been used for ranching since the mid 1800s. The Douglas Lake Ranch, the largest operating ranch in Canada is still operating in the area. Cattle could be herded north towards Kamloops and easy access to the Hudson Bay post there or from there west to Cache Creek and the Caribou Road. Logging was also an early industry of the area. Coal had been discovered in the area in the 1870s during the CPR Surveys.

In the early days, Nicola was major center of the region and was not surpassed by Merritt (originally Forksdale, named for the fork between the Nicola River and the Coldwater River) until the early 1900s.

In 1891, two railways received charters to build into the area. The Nicola Valley Railway, back by the CPR, was to be built from the CPR mainline at Spences Bridge to Nicola, just north of what is now Merritt. An independent railway, the Nicola, Kamloops & Similkameen Coal & Railway Company(NK&S) was founded to build from Kamloops, to Nicola, south to Princeton and then on to Osooyos. Neither railway started construction and both charter's lapsed.

First Construction: Coal

In the early 1900s, the province was looking for cheap sources of coal. A major strike on Vancouver Island was limiting the availability from that source. In 1903, the coal beds around Nicola inspired William Hamilton Merritt, a local entrenpreneur to revive the charter for the NK&S. He started construction on the railway from Spences Bridge in 1905.

The construction received a major boost when the CPR leased the charter in November of 1905 and put its significant resources to work. Because of its coal locomotives, the railway required a reliable low cost supply of coal. The CPR also talked of connecting the railway through to Midway, the western terminous of its lines built west from the Kootenay mines (built in 1900 by CPR's Columbia and Kootenay Railway). Construction to Merritt was completed by 1906. And in 1907 the railway crossed the Coldwater River to the major colliery - the first coal was shipped out on January 22, 1907 with full operation starting in April. At this time the line was a branch line off the CPR mainline at Spences Bridge.