Canadian Railroads > CN gives notice Kelowna-Vernon track removal

CN has given the various parties interested in converting the Lumby Junction to Kelowna BC rail line to a biking hiking trail that they have until the first week of December to formally announce their intentions. Permission to abandon was granted by the Canadian Government in June 2014.

Phil, so is there some kind of container terminal which serves the Okanagan Valley? Presumed in your town of Kamloops? or Vernon?

I do not quite recall where Lumby junction is but I am thinking it is Vernon.

Rick

rschonfelder Wrote:
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> I do not quite recall where Lumby junction is but I am thinking it is Vernon.

The junction is about 1.8 miles south of the CN yard in Vernon--about 800 ft. from the northern tip of Kalamalka Lake.

GPS co-ords for those who are interested... 50.233852 -119.268568

The line to Lumby was the branch but it will become the main--and only--line when the track to Kelowna is lifted. I was in Vernon on Saturday and checked out the yard. When the Kelowna Pacific was operating you could always find stuff there but it was absolutely empty when I looked. I wonder if CN will sell off some of the yard and revert to a single line through there?

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC

So I have to ask, if CN is pulling out of Kelowna, why the need to service Vernon? ... or is that the next line to be petitioned for abandonment?

Rick

rschonfelder Wrote:
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> ...why the need to service Vernon?

I don't think there's any businesses "in" Vernon that use the Railroad but Bell Pole, Gorman Bros. and Tolko Industries all have operations in Lumby. Tolko also has a mill in Lavington and there is also the big Tolko mill between Vernon and Armstrong. My understanding is that they all put up some money to cover some of the cost of refurbing the line. I would assume that this involves some sort of long-term agreement...

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC

Tolko Industries, with headquartets in Vernon, is a lumber producer and the biggest shipper on the line. Tolko also has a sawmill in Kelowna. They were consulted about the closure of the Lumby Junction to Kelowna section of the CN, and decided that the Kelowna operation could continue to operate without rail service. One of the considerations was how long the shippers anticipated to remain in Kelowna. While no plans are in place to close the Kelowna mill, it is the smallest of the several Tolko mills in the area. Gorman Brothers have operated a mill for many years in West Kelowna (Westbank) without rail service.

Tolko's operation in Kelowna is right on Okanagan Lake and is now surrounded by residential areas. Given the way Kelowna is developing I imagine the city and its residents would like to see the mill gone and I'm sure the land--they're sitting on about 50 acres--is worth significantly more as residential/commercial than it is as industrial. As far as I know most of the timber for the Kelowna operation comes from the west side of the lake. It's dumped in the water on the west side and floated across in booms. This greatly reduces the amount of truck traffic running through Kelowna--a benefit to both the mill and the community as anyone who has driven through the city knows how screwed up the traffic is; especially if you're coming from the west side...

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC

Tolko's mill in Kelowna was originally owned by a local family, the Simpsons who specialised in producing apple boxes and door and window sashes. I don't know if Tolko owns the mill now or leases it from the original owners. In their day, the Simpsons were movers and shakers in Kelowna society and may still have some say about the future of the mill.

The CN line from Kelowna to Lumby Junction passes through some spectacular lakeside scenery, also incredibly valuable as resort property. I have not heard an upsurge of NIMBYism regarding the rails to trails proposals so maybe the lakeshore citizens are on side with the proposal.