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Transportation
~ Bridges
~ Canals
~ Paddlewheelers
~ Roads
~ Trains
~ ~ Shuswap
Okanagan Railway
~ ~ Construction
of Railway
~ ~ Railway
Station
~ ~ 1st Rolling Stock
~ ~ Growth from
Railway
~ ~ Memories of the trains
On July 2nd 1891 the tracks of the
Shuswap and Okanagan Railway reached Enderby, bringing actual rail traffic with them.
Despite the preceding flurry of growth and activity which had swept over Enderby, the
rolling stock was undoubtedly the biggest news and held the greatest interest for the
people of Enderby.
The very first train to cross the tracks, of course, was the track laying machine, which
had been invented by T.W. Patterson, the managing contractor for the job. It dropped ties
and then the rails into position for manual spiking. The mechanized handling of the rails
saved 20 men, and was one of the most complete labour-saving devices on the continent.
When it arrived in Enderby, it must have caused a stir for both curious children and old
timers who talked of new - fangled contraptions and such. It came with seven flatcars
loaded with rails, ties, spikes, and bolts, and a locomotive which pushed it along one
track- length at a time.
Other than this machine, the first traffic on the rails was the handcars and the supply
trains which brought the rails, ties, and other materials from Sicamous. The handcars were
used extensively, and for manual purposes. In 1889, the Earl and Countess of Aberdeen had
paid a visit to the valley, and did so in a three-piece procession of handcars. In 1891,
when they visited again, Lady Aberdeen commented that she did not share her husband's
obvious enthusiasm for them. She spoke of them as "cheery little vehicles" but
preferred to walk than "whiz through the air" on them "at a rate of twenty
miles per hour".
This is not an exaggeration, as C.W. Holliday commented when speaking of
borrowing a handcar for a Sunday picnic: "It made a pleasant change from riding or
driving the horses, and is quite a thrilling way of travelling; with four men pumping you
can achieve a tremendous speed; it was very unusual for any train to be on the line on
Sunday so we felt safe enough."
This practice of borrowing handcars, as Holliday was doing in the late 1890's, was frowned
upon by the Railway company and was discontinued. This was too bad for Holliday and
Mickey, the section boss from whom he borrowed the car, as Mickey was thanked for his
favors with a little Irish Whiskey now and then.
On July 16,1891, the Kalamazoo arrived in the valley. It was a miniature flatcar with
seats and a small steam engine, not very dependable but thrice as fast as a paddlewheeler.
Contrary to popular belief, the Kalamazoo was not a transportation revolution and its
service lasted only two months in that summer of 1891.
Finally, in the fall of 1891 the regular trains began to run, and the initial rolling
stock became less used than in those months before the completion of the railway.
Robert Henry
AlF School 1989