MARGARET HOPE'S NOTES FROM THE
Photo Credits: Alan and Karen Wilbers of Hartville, OH provided most of these photos but others sent some wonderful shots too.
Terry Baughman, Nelson BC
Chuck Lee, Carson CA
Don Evans, Vancouver BC
Robert (Bob) Jones, Kettle Falls WA
Carla Wert, Curlew Lake, WA
Rick Degman, KFR, Kettle Falls, WA
webmeisters note - I apologize for not having kept Marg's wonderful notes that indicated the proper credit of photographers s to each of the photos. We thank you one and all
PLEASE CLICK ON THE PHOTOS FOR A LARGER IMAGE
photo by Bob Jones
We began at Republic, WA on “virgin rail” – the Kettle Falls International Railway (KFR) We set-on near town then headed to a wonderfully restored carousel for a get-acquainted dinner. We celebrated 10 years of Pacific Northwest tours with T-shirt day at Northport, WA
Meet Coordinators were Marg Hope and Chris Baldo. Marg did a lot of the early logistics but Chris came through handling our daily safety lectures and leading the group through unknown territory.
Kettle Falls International was a railway of astonishing beauty. We had one day on tracks scheduled for demolition between Republic WA and Grande Forks, BC.
Every day on KFR was beautiful. On our second day we traveled north and crossed the border into Canada, had lunch near Grande Forks and returned through the US Border.
Our second railway was a return visit to the Kootenay Valley Railway. We headed south to Trail with a brunch stop at the Castlegar Railway Station Museum, one of the recipients of our auction proceeds. This route follows the Kootenay River which was just beginning to recede from flood level. The many power stations along the way were letting a good deal of water escape making for beautiful photographs.
On our second KVR day we headed east towards Creston along the isolated east arm of Kootenay Lake. We had a cinnamon roll stop at the little town of Procter, a town only accessible by ferry before crossing a major viaduct at the end of the lake on our way to Creston, BC There we were assisted by the local museum group who met our railcars, collected our auction items and by the time we returned from our afternoon run to the CP junction at Curzon.
MOW PNWT charity auction. We raised enough money to provide 5 groups (4 museums and a youth group) with $1000 each. Bill Schertle did an amazing job as our Auctioneer. He is very entertaining.
LETTER OF THANKS ( A PDF FILE)
Next we headed north by road to Prince George BC where the local Railway and Forestry Museum emptied their shop so we could set on. Some of the group arrived early enough to play on the railway museum’s collection
