About the Kettle Valley Line
The original manuscript for Ean Hay's "Kettle Valley Line"
Looking at a map, the Kettle Valley Line appears to have run a rather squiggly route between Midway to Hope BC, a distance of 525 km (325 miles). After a short run nor'west then sou'west from the main CPR line in Midway (which is between Grand Forks and Osoyoos), the line struck north along the West Kettle River. Then it circled around to the south at Myra Canyon and entered Penticton from the north running alongside Okanagan Lake for a time. It followed Trout River northwest and then along Hayes Creek to Princeton. From there the line headed north eventually joining what is now the Coquihalla Highway, roughly 40 km south of Merritt at a point called Brodie. If you drive through there you can see the old track bed in several places, particularly to the west of the highway at the bottom of Larsen's Hill. The line then worked its way south, along the route of the Coquihalla, ending in Hope where it joined existing rail lines that ran along the Fraser to Vancouver. Anyone who has driven the Coquihalla Highway will appreciate the difficulty chief engineer Andrew McCulloch must have had laying this line.
Of the smaller railway lines in Canada, the Kettle Valley Line has attracted considerable attention from song makers. Not only do we have Ean Hay's song which appears on the album, but there are, at least, seven others-probably more.
The (other) Kettle Valley Line
Dave Baker is a long-time song writer from BC. He has released two CDs both of which contain his "Kettle Valley Line." This is the chorus:
It's the Kettle Valley Line, my sonHere we get a brief geography lesson. The verse is a nostalgic look at the Line as it was.
The Kettle Valley Line
From Hope through to Princeton, Penticton, past Trail
Through the Crowsnest on out to the plain.
Climb Aboard the Kettle Valley Train
The next five songs come from a group who have named themselves after the Line, The Kettle Valley Brakemen. "Climb Aboard the Kettle Valley Train" is from the Brakemen's first CD entitled "Climb Aboard" (2000). Again a nostalgic look at the Line is centre stage:
Come on and climb aboard the Kettle Valley trainThe accomplishments of her chief engineer, Andrew McCulloch
Yes, climb aboard the Kettle Valley train
Hear her old steam whistle blow, as back in time we go
Won't you climb aboard the Kettle Valley train
Kettle Valley Blues
This song, also from the Brakemen's first CD, is written in the tradition of the standard 8 bar blues. It tells an unrequited love story with the Kettle Valley Line as the vehicle of the damsel's escape:
You hopped back aboard that Kettle Valley train
Like a crook runnin' from a crime
With my heart in your pack, you headed down the track
An' ran from love one more time
Kettle Valley Memories
This song comes from the Brakmen's second CD, "Railway Tales Along the Trail" (2002). It celebrates Penticton, the Peach City, which was the home base for the Line. Here we're introduced to some "train talk":
By the old Penticton roundhouse at the south end of town
On a cherry blossom April day, steam pipe blowin' down
The engineer with his long oil can, oiling the old valve gear
We're waitin' "in the hole" for a passenger train to clear.
Ridin' on That Kettle Valley Train
This song, also from the Brakemen's second CD, takes us on a trip from Hope, the western terminus of the Line, over part of the Coquihalla, to Penticton, and on to Midway, the end of the line. Andrew McCulloch was a Shakespeare buff, so some of the stops were named after his favourite characters. You can see some of these on the signs at the Hope end of the Coquihalla Highway.
Honest Kettle Valley Trainmen
This song comes from the Brakemen's third CD, "Train Talk" (2006). This is an ironic effort to convince the listener that KVL staff had nothing to do with the supplies, such as the survival packages, that sometimes went missing.
Many more of the Brakemen's songs deal with Kettle Valley themes, indicating the five I've presented here are an under representation of the total number of KVL songs.
McCulloch's Fine Line
The final Kettle Valley song I'll mention here was written by Al Love, a superb modeler and history buff. His words capture the history of the line and some of the problems and issues that were part of its life between 1916 and 1961. Al suggests singing this tune to "Sweet Betsy From Pike."
At the turn of the century in southern BC
The riches were there it was all plain to see
For rails needed laying, they must find a way
For the Kettle Valley railway, going east to Midway
Now Andrew McCulloch was chief engineer
His vision unclouded, his orders were clear
Build rails from the heartland to the ports of the west
Keep grades to a minimum and get there real fast
The Yanks they were coming with tracks near Greenwood
The mines of the Phoenix to serve if they could
Bridge the gap to the heartland, send the ores to the west
Keep the boundary in Canada, Great Northern's a pest
From Midway to the nor'west the railway was laid
By trestles and rock cuts they maintained the grade
Long hauls to the Fraser would give crews a time
Keeping fruit reefers iced and schedules cut fine
Now the mountains near Hope and the bores of Quinette
Made alignment of track a bold challenge well met
The loops out of Jura and the grades o'er the rest
Made it hard to get fancy with no time for rest
The place names were different the bard would agree
For most they were chosen from his poetry
Heavy snows and long winters made clearing a chore
But the tracks must stay open for ten months or more
Now it took grit and labour to build such a line
To clear and maintain it to keep it on time
And for those who did use it and for those in its pay
The Kettle Valley Railway was thought there to stay
But the mines and the mills were a limited run
The ores soon depleted, the work was all done
Retreat from the heartland, find jobs in the west
The coaches run empty and the freight's dropping fast
Now isn't it funny how time can replace
And fade out the memory of trains in this place
The sounds of the whistles and bells are all done
For rails once so vital now lifted and gone
Old men say McCulloch did lay a fine line
A wonder, a marvel in a race against time
He linked up the heartland of southern BC
By the Kettle Valley Railway to the west and the sea.
The "reefers" in verse four are refrigerated box cars used to carry Okanogan fruit. The "Bard" in verse six is Willy Shakespeare.
This brief survey makes it clear that the Kettle Valley Line has captured the imaginations of many song writers. Perhaps the rugged mountain terrain combined with the pastoral beauty of the Okanagan Valley contribute to this. Whatever the reason, this relatively short stretch of rail rivals even the fabled Newfoundland railway in terms of inspiring songs.
Photo by David Layland used with permission of the Kettle Valley Steam Railway.
If you want to see what all the song writing fuss is about first hand, you can still ride a short section of the Kettle Valley Line Railway line in Summerland, aboard the Kettle Valley Steam Railway. There's no need to ride on the roof though.
Robert D. Turner's Steam on the Kettle Valley: A Railway Heritage Remembered (Victoria, BC: Sono Nis Press, 1995) is a marvellous source of information, reminiscences, and photographs.
This brief resource is a "work in progress." If you have any suggestions for corrections or additions please let us know.