Canadian Railroads > The Nicola Spur, time stood still

One warm September afternoon in 1977, I walked the entire seven mile length of CP's Nicola spur. Away from Highway 5A and any houses, the only encounter I had was with a small herd of horses. We both went our ways without stopping, a perfect meet.

​The Nicola spur connected the small town of Merritt BC to the tiny village of Nicola. By 1977, there was no rail traffic on the spur. It had been left in place so that large electrical components could be delivered to the Quilchena "switching station", an important junction in BC Hydro's power line network. The rails were removed in 1980.

Nicola was part of the "Empire of Grass", an area of southern British Columbia settled in the 1880's by cattle ranchers. The town of Nicola was established during that time, and sought to become the administrative centre of the area.

A rail line was planned to connect the nearby Okanagan valley to the Nicola district. The Nicola, Kamloops and Similkameen Railway was completed from Merritt to Nicola in 1906.

​However, by 1910, the railway and its charter were taken over by the Kettle Valley Railway which was building a branch to Spences Bridge. No further construction took place on the NK&S.  Coal was discovered around Merritt, and that town grew following the completion of the Merritt Subdivision of the KVR.  The KVR become part of Canadian Pacific during construction.  Nicola didn't grow, and the spur survived for stock movements.

​Astonishingly, Quilchena, the next community north of Nicola which was never reached by the planned railway, had a large hotel built specifically to serve the railway. The hotel survives today as a golf course clubhouse.

The images show the Nicola spur looking north from Merritt, showing the abandoned tipple for the Diamond Vale colliery, my meet with the horses about halfway along the seven mile spur, and the rail yard at Nicola showing the stock loading pen and ramp. By 1977, the switches had been spiked and the switch stands removed for use elsewhere.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/16 08:10 by eminence_grise.

The first image shows the south switch of Nicola, the second shows the Nicola mileboard looking north and the third shows the railway and sage brush north of Merritt.

CP had gone to the effort of replacing the painted wooden station mileboard with a steel one.

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/16 08:24 by eminence_grise.

Remarkable photos.  That one with the horses should be Image of the Day.

Jim

Were the grades as steep as they appear in the photos? Great look back in the not so distant past.

Dick Samuels

Thanks Phil, I recognized the first photo from "The Crow and The Kettle". Nice to see the other images from your hike, great stuff.

Mike N.

EMDSW-1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Were the grades as steep as they appear in the
> photos? Great look back in the not so distant
> past.
>
> Dick Samuels

​No significant grade atall, followed a creek on the valley floor.

The first image with the coal tipple is now deirectly beside the Coquihalla freeway 5 to Vancouver. Oddly enough, the interchange with 97C, the Okanagan Connector freeway is very close to this site. 97C does what the NK&S was planned to do, link the Okanagan Valley to the Nicola Valley. 97C goes high into the mountains, through an area that no railway ever penetrated.

​Because the freeway was planned in the 1970's, there was on overpass built over the Nicola spur which would already have no rails by the 1984 construction of the highway.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/16 10:26 by eminence_grise.

eminence_grise Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The first image with the coal tipple is now
> deirectly beside the Coquihalla freeway 5 to
> Vancouver. Oddly enough, the interchange with 97C,
> the Okanagan Connector freeway is very close to
> this site. 97C does what the NK&S was planned to
> do, link the Okanagan Valley to the Nicola Valley.
> 97C goes high into the mountains, through an area
> that no railway ever penetrated.
>
> ​Because the freeway was planned in the 1970's,
> there was on overpass built over the Nicola spur
> which would already have no rails by the 1984
> construction of the highway.

Looking at Google maps, it appears the Nicola spur is what Google has titled Nicola Cutoff Rd. The overpass is the one in the middle of the valley where Hwy. 5 crosses from one side to the other?

I had no idea that the spur used to be there, having crossed over the roadbed on Hwy. 5 numerous times.

Mike N. 

Helo-Mech Wrote:

> Looking at Google maps, it appears the Nicola spur
> is what Google has titled Nicola Cutoff Rd. The
> overpass is the one in the middle of the valley
> where Hwy. 5 crosses from one side to the other?
>
> I had no idea that the spur used to be there,
> having crossed over the roadbed on Hwy. 5 numerous
> times.
>
> Mike N. 
I'm pretty sure the Nicola Cutoff road was built on the spur roadbed.  Highway 5 swings across the valley north of the Merritt townsite and the various sawmills.