The Nicola, Kamloops and Similkameen Coal and Railway Co (NK&S), ultimately a Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) subsidiary, connected Spences Bridge and Nicola in south central British Columbia. This standard gauge trackage, which followed the Nicola River, formed the CP Nicola Subdivision.
A prospector named Kennedy from Ashcroft was believed to be the first European to discover coal in the area. Subsequently, First Nations took quantities of coal to Lytton for blacksmiths during the Cariboo Gold Rush, as did packhorses to Clinton as early as 1869. Local settlers extracted these surface outcroppings with a pick and shovel to fuel their fires.
In 1877âÂÂ1878, the Geological Survey Department of Canada first reported coal in the area.
Following contact with Albert Elgin Howse of Nicola and reading the Dawson report of 1886, Lieutenant-Colonel William Hamilton Merritt III journeyed from Toronto in 1887. On finding coal in what is known as the Pot Hole, west of the Coldwater 1 Reserve, he purchased a large tract of coal lands. He proceeded to the Coast to form an investor syndicate to apply for a railway charter, because establishing economical transportation was a prerequisite.
In 1891, the Nicola Valley Railway Co (NV) obtained a charter to build from Spences Bridge to the western end of Nicola Lake, with a branch line south along the Coldwater River to Voght Creek. Construction needed to commence within three years and be completed within five. The NV syndicate comprised Charles Whetham, Stephen Tingley, and Dr. John M. Lefevre (president). Later that year, the NK&S obtained a charter for the same route by disguising its application as Kamloops to Osoyoos via the Nicola Valley and Princeton, with a branch to Spences Bridge. The NV unsuccessfully opposed the NK&S application. Led by Howse and W.H. Merritt, the NK&S syndicate also comprised John F. Allison, R.H. Lee, A.M. Nanton, Sandford H. Fleming, Frank A. Fleming, C.H. Keefer, Geo F. Harman, and C.F. Shanley.
In 1892, the NV was granted a $3,200 per mile construction subsidy, and the principals obtained options on coal rights immediately south of present Merritt, covering of coal lands. The 1894 announcement that construction would shortly commence came to nothing.
Equally unable to secure financing, the NK&S charter lapsed. W.H.Merritt and two others were all that remained of the original syndicate when the NK&S charter for a Spences BridgeâÂÂNicola line was renewed in 1903. The $6,400 per mile federal construction subsidy for the first was expected to also attract provincial financial assistance. That year, they sold the charter to eastern capitalists from Ontario. A year later, a New York syndicate apparently bought the charter.
In 1904, false rumours circulated that CP had acquired the NK&S charter. That year, John Hendry, who possessed good connections within CP, staked out of coal rights southwest of present Merritt with the intention of starting a colliery. That summer, Dr. R.W. Ells conducted coal surveys, which appeared in the annual report of the Geological Survey Department that year. This highlighting of the coalmining potential lifted the Nicola Valley out of obscurity. Ellis concluded that the coal quality and reserves compared very favourably with those of Vancouver Island and the Crowsnest.
Coal magnate James Dunsmuir had been unsuccessful in acquiring John Hendry's extensive coal rights. In August 1905, he secured an option for coal development on another but planned to leave the property idle for two years. This would eliminate competition from other speculators and also benefit his Vancouver Island mines, but the landowners thwarted his attempts. Next, he claimed the coal was of poor quality and limited quantity, so he was no longer interested in the option. He imagined his rejection of the area might induce Hendry to abandon the adjoining coal rights. However, the press exposed the scandal and dashed his hopes of buying up all the Nicola options at bargain prices.
In May 1905, CP announced that work would begin that summer on the railway line, the prime contractor having acquired the NK&S charter on behalf of the railway.
CP obtained locomotive coal from Vancouver Island mines, where labour disputes threatened the ongoing supply. Consequentially, access to the Nicola region reserves assumed greater importance.
Loss and MacDonnell, the prime contractor, commenced the $1,500,000 project in July 1905. To minimize heavy rock cuts, the right-of-way crossed the Nicola River multiple times. That month, the wagon road, which had struggled to justify a bi-weekly stage service, introduced competing daily services.
The initial subcontractors west to east were:
That October, a new work camp was set up at Coutlee to work both ways. The next month, Ironside, Rannie and Campbell were awarded the bridgework, tracklaying and ballasting contract. By December, one thousand men were working at 20 different camps along the route.
In January 1906, tracklaying began at Spences Bridge. In mid-March, the eastward advance of the rail head reached the Clapperton Tunnel, having progressed at per day. When subcontractor McLean finished the tunnel, tracklaying proceeded. That year, labour shortages continued to delay progress. The rail head reached Coutlee in early June 1906 and Nicola in November 1906.
Following inspection of the completed line in March 1907, tri-weekly passenger service began at the beginning of April.
CP proposed to later extend the track eastward via Quilchena to Princeton. The construction announcement in June 1909 revealed the plan had been revised to an extension southward from Merritt via the Coldwater River. By December 1910, of track had been laid. In late September 1911, the rail head reached Otter Summit.
MerrittâÂÂBrookmere
In 1906 Coal Gulley, one of the first coal companies to begin production, was taken over by Nicola Valley Coal and Coke Co (NVC). That year, NVC, Coldwater Coal Co, and Diamond Vale Coal and Iron Mines, began drilling on their holdings. NVC founded the Middlesboro Collieries (about southwest of Merritt). Diamond Vale was in the northeast of the Merritt coalfield (about east of Merritt). The Coldwater River formed the boundary between the Middlesboro and the Diamond Vale properties.
While the railway infrastructure was being built, the mining companies prepared for production. The first carload of coal came up out of the NVC mine in January 1907, but the first train load shipped out was that June. Middlesboro, the largest mine in the valley, used coal cutting machines. The coal was loaded onto capacity cars, which were brought to the surface by mules or horses, or up very steep slopes by steel cable and hoist.
In May 1908, NVC chartered a train to bring a hundred of Vancouver's most influential businessmen to inspect the Middlesboro operation. By 1909, NVC was supplying fuel for the city of Kamloops and CP steam locomotives. Most of the coal produced was for railway use.
Exhausted coal seams in existing mines decreased production in the late 1920s. The Great Depression reduced demand in the 1930s. On the spur crossing the river, the replacement of a wooden bridge with a steel one in 1938 indicated confidence in the mining future.
During World War II, a federal subsidy to coal producers kept prices affordable for consumers. When the subsidy was withdrawn in 1944, Middlesboro Collieries closed permanently. Over the decades, the company produced of coal, and Diamond Vale (closed in 1945) produced . At the time, the replacing of coal-burning locomotives with diesel ones severely reduced demand.
In 1946, Gerard and Associates bought the Middlesboro Mining Co, renaming it the Coldwater Coal Co. The mine finally closed in 1963. Only a fraction of coal reserves were recovered during the five decades of mining.
In November 1915, the Kettle Valley Railway (KV) took over the management of the line, and coal shipments continued as the primary traffic. During 1916âÂÂ1959, blockages on the KV Coquihalla segment or in the lower Fraser Canyon created bursts of activity when trains temporarily diverted via Merritt. In October 1957, passenger service (provided by mixed trains) ended. When the Coquihalla track closed in late 1959, trains rerouted via Merritt but stopped at no stations officially, but unofficial stops between Meritt and Spences Bridge were not uncommon.
The freight crew base moved from Brookmere to Merrit in 1966, where it remained until 1985. The Merritt station freight revenue exceeded $6 million annually during the 1970s. Freight comprised lumber and chips from the mills, equipment for industry and ranches, and copper and iron from Coyle. The spur to Nicola was abandoned in 1979 and the rails lifted in 1980.
After Penticton station closed in 1985, an additional crew was based at Merritt to handle the three times weekly service to Princeton, Penticton and Okanagan Falls. The final train from Penticton was March 1989 and from Princeton was in April. The final trip to Spences Bridge was that May. The rails were lifted in 1991 and 1992. The province purchased the right-of-way in 1995 and returned the parts through the reserves to First Nations.
Around 2019, plans were made to rehabilitate the rail bed toward Spences Bridge and Brookmere. However, when the 2021 flood took out the bridges and most of the rail bed, interest in the proposal evaporated. The first step to revive the project was completion of the short MerrittâÂÂCoutlee leg in 2024. Also after the flood destroyed sections of highway 8 a vehicle bridge has been installed where a former railway bridge was and a dirt road constructed along the former rail alignment to re-route traffic around a washed out section of the highway.