The CPR built this initial link to capture mining traffic heading southward by steamboat to the US.
At Robson, CPR steamers sailed up the Arrow Lakes and the Columbia River to connect with its mainline at Revelstoke.
In 1898, to the west, CPR bought the Columbia and Western Railway, and rebuilt to standard gauge the next year.
In 1900, to the east, CPR built its Procter branch along the west arm of Kootenay Lake.
[3] These sections would eventually form part of the CPR's southern mainline through British Columbia, now abandoned westward from about 8 kilometres (5 mi) west of Castlegar.