Columbia and Western Railway

Fritz Augustus Heinze, who opened a smelter at Butte, Montana, in 1893, was seeking investment opportunities.

From the smelter, which opened in February 1896, boats could carry the metal concentrate to complete the purification at a refinery.

Fearful that further railway competition would capture the ore supply for the smelter, Heinze sought to enlarge the catchment area.

He obtained a provincial charter for C&W in April 1896, which authorized a line from the Columbia River west through the metal-rich Boundary District to Penticton on Lake Okanagan.

[1] To gain 701 metres (2,300 ft) elevation in 23 kilometres (14 mi), the line still included up to 4.8 per cent grades and tight curves.

[4] With a provincial government subsidy of $4,000 per mile, the line was extended westward from West Robson via Grand Forks, reaching Midway by the end of 1899.

[7] Between July 1897 and October 1898, CP built westward from Lethbridge via the Crowsnest Pass to the Kootenay Landing terminal.

[3] Advancing westward from Midway, the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) connected to Penticton in October 1914, and Merritt in fall 1915, providing a link to Vancouver, with the more direct route via the Coquihalla Pass opening in July 1916.