The Route of the Nicola Valley Railway
The Nicola Valley Railway Main Line -
The Nicola Branch Line -
The Brodie Branch Line
The Mainline of the Nicola Valley Railway starts in Merritt and travels west then north up the
Nicola River Valley to Spences Bridge on the Canadian Pacific Railway Mainline. Mile posts are
counted from the Passenger Station at the Merritt Wye.
Merritt MP 0.0
The Merritt passenger station is located just west of the west switch of the Merritt wye.
As you proceed west from the station (train direction north), the mainline crosses Vought
street.
Just past the street crossing a facing point spur on the west side of the main line serves Shell Oil
and Texaco Canada Ltd.
Coultee MP 2.1
Coultee has a 20 car passing siding on the west side of the main with a passenger shelter and
freight house. A timber loading ramp is still occasionally used to load coal.
Coyle MP 4.8
Coyle has a small passenger station located on a 20 car passing siding on the east side of the main.
Behind this there is a 20 car loading track for loading copper concentrate from the Craigmont
Mine up Stumbles Creek.
Canford MP 10.5
Canford serves the Nicola Pine Mills sawmill. A 25 car passing siding and several spurs serve the
mills. A logging railway runs up the Spius Creek into the hills behind the mill. This railway has
three climax locomotives (one three truck) and forty flat cars.
A water tank was located just beyond the north end of the passing siding.
Dot MP 19.5
Dot has a 25 car passing siding with a flag stop on the east side of the mainline.
Agate MP 22.5
Agate is a flag stop. No siding.
Clapperton MP 29.7
A flag stop on a 20 car siding.
Just north of Clapperton at MP 30.1 is Clapperton tunnel. This tunnel with stone block portals is
the only tunnel on the NVR.
Spences Bridge MP 39.8
At Spences Bridge the NVR interchanges with the CPR.
Spences Bridge has all the facilities of a small CPR division point, a six track yard, a wye with
engine service and fuel facilities on the north side of the CPR main, and cattle pens.
The Nicola branch starts at the west switch of the Merritt wye and proceeds up the north side of
the wye, through Merritt to Nicola.
Freight House MP 0.05
A trailing point spur on the north arm of the wye leads to a large freight house located
behind the Merritt Station.
Merritt Spurs MP 0.5
Just past the wye the branch line to Nicola crosses Quilchena Avenue (the railway crosses the
avenues at about a 40 degree angle). Just past the crossing there are two facing point spurs on the
south side of the line. The first spur services a curved loading platform with ramps at both ends.
The second spur serves Aspen P.V. Lumber Ltd. As well as facilities for loading lumber there is a
chip loader.
After crossing Nicola Avenue (Highway 5) we reach a trailing point spur on the south side of the
line serving B.A. Oil and Imperial Oil Co. Ltd.
Diamond Vale Mine MP 1.5
At MP 1.5 there is a disused spur on the south side of the branch line that serves the old Diamond
Vale Mine. This mine is currently not shipping coal due to the poor quality of coal being found
but exploration has found some promising seams.
Nicola MP 7.3
The railway approaches the Nicola River at about an 80 degree angle then curves to the south
until the track is parallel to the river heading towards the lake.
At one time the railway was to continue through Nicola to Quilchena and beyond. There were
engine service facilities and a large station. These plans ended when the Brodie branch was built.
Nicola now has a passing siding on the north side of the branch line. On the siding are the
passenger station, freight house, Sutter Creek Sawmill and several small platforms serving several
mining claims in the area. South of the branch line there is a long siding serving corrals.
North of the branch line, branching of the start of the passing siding is a wye. The north tail track
of the wye serves Higaro & Sons Sawmill Ltd. (Now Nicola Timber Ltd.).
Several hundred yards past the station, the branch line comes to an end beside the Nicola River.
You can see the remains of the grade that was planned to go to Quilchena.
The Merritt Wye MP 0.0
The Merritt wye has a five degree curve on the north arm (Nicola Branch) , a nine degree curve
on the south arm (Brodie Branch), and a fifteen degree curve joining the two arms together.
Inside the wye are a section house and several bunkhouses. Formerly there was a water tank
inside the wye near the west switch serving both the north and south tracks.
The south switch of the wye is located just before the Coldwater Avenue street crossing.
Merritt Yards MP 0.15
Just past the Coldwater Avenue crossing double track begins. The double track extends to MP
2.5. There are trailing point single crossovers at MP 0.9 and MP 1.7. From MP 0.16 to MP 0.9
are the Merritt yards. There is a small classification yard with engine service facilities.
Middlesboro Collieries Spur MP 0.9
The Middlesboro Collieries spur branches off to the west and curves around in a semi circle
crossing the Coldwater River until it ends up going north. At the end of the spur are the sidings
serving the colliery. The Middlesboro Collieries operated a small railway with 0-4-0 saddletank
locomotives.
At the start of the Middlesboro siding there is another short siding to the south serving T&G
Wood Products Ltd.
South Merritt Spurs
At MP 1.0 there is 1000 foot long passing loop to the east for lumber loading.
At MP 1.3 there are two trailing point sidings to the east serving the O'Neil Devine Sawmills.
Glen Walker MP 15.1
A flag stop is located on a short (20 car) siding.
Pine MP 23.6
A small station and a 30 car siding. The Nicola Pine Mills' logging railway extends fifteen miles to
the west up Midday Creek. Logs from here are transported to the mills at Canford.
Kingsvale 28.6
A small station and a nineteen car siding. A water tank was located at the north end of the siding.
This was to be the original end of the line before the extension was built to Brodie.
Brodie MP 47.1
There is a short siding parallelling the west side of the wye. Here the Nicola Valley Railway meets
the CPR. Trains travel east to Brookmere to interchange with the CPR.
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Bill Dixon's Railway Pages
Last Modified: July 13, 2000. Copyright 2000 W.R.Dixon.
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