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Completing the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) easily ranks in the "top ten" of B.C. engineering feats. It took three decades to construct a rail line through five mountain passes, including the Coquihalla Pass and Myra Canyon. Hence the most difficult railway in Canada to operate, the KVR was often referred to as McCulloch's Wonder, citing the achievements of turn-of-the-century engineer Andrew McCulloch.
Railway buff Barrie Sanford spent ten years researching the building of the KVR line for McCulloch's Wonder: The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway (1977) which has gone through numerous printings. Sales were boosted in 2003 by the forest fires south of Kelowna that destroyed some of the KVR's bridgework, bringing cross-Canada attention to the rail line that was once considered the lifeline of southern B.C. The KVR is also the subject of Sanford's pictorial history, Steel Rails and Iron Men (1990).
FULL ENTRY:
Designing the short-lived Kettle Valley Railroad, then taking three decades to construct a Kootenay line through the Coquihalla Pass and Myra Canyon, easily ranks in the 'top ten' of B.C. engineering feats. That's why the most difficult railway in Canada to operate, the KVR, was often referred to as McCulloch's Wonder in honour of turn-of-the-century engineer Andrew McCulloch. Railway buff Barrie Sanford spent ten years researching the building of the Kettle Valley Railway line for McCulloch's Wonder: The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway (Whitecap, 1977) which has gone through numerous printings. Sanford updated McCulloch's Wonder in 2003. The book's sales were boosted in 2003 by the forest fires south of Kelowna that destroyed some of the KVR's bridgework, bringing cross-Canada attention to the rail line that was once considered the lifeline of southern B.C. Three decades under construction, across five mountain passes, mainly overseen by Chief Engineer Andrew McCullough, the KVR is also the subject of Sanford's pictorial history, Steel Rails and Iron Men (Whitecap, 1990).
Born in New Westminster and raised in White Rock, Sanford is an avid photographer who has lived in Quesnel and has an engineering degree from UBC, plus a business administration degree from SFU. In 1972 he won an award for best technical paper in British Columbia from the Corporation of B.C. Land Surveyors.
Entranced by the opening and closing of the New Westminster train bridge as a child, Barrie Sanford was married on a train near the bridge and eventually wrote Royal Metal: The People, Times and Trains of New Westminster Bridge (Sandhill / National Railway Historical Society, 2004). In addition, Sanford has produced the Pictorial History of Railroading in British Columbia, as well as Railway by the Bay: 100 Years of Trains at White Rock, Crescent Beach and Ocean Park (National Railway Historical Society, 2009).
Barry Sanford has written the text to accompany the images of steam trains throughout British Columbia for Train Master: The Railway Art of Max Jacquiard (Sandhill/Sanford, 2012), a collection of art by Canada's leading railway artist. 978-0-9735602-2-0 $39.95
[The best-known transportation author of B.C. is Robert Turner. For others, see abcbookworld entries for Affleck, Edward L.; Anderson, J.F.; Armstrong, Cliff; Baird, Ian MacLeod; Bannerman, Gary; Barnard, John; Barr, James; Beaudoin, Ted; Bennett, Norma V.; Berton, Pierre; Booth, Jan; Bradley, Ken; Brown, Jim; Burrows, Roger; Clapp, Frank; Coates, Ken; Cockfield, Ian; Condit, John; Corley-Smith, Peter; Cotsworth, M.B.; Cox, Doug; Craig, Andy; de Goutiere, Justin; Doeksen, Gerry Corwin; Downs, Art; Duffy, Dennis J.; Ewert, Henry; Fleming, Sandford; Garden, John; Garner, Lloyd; Green, Mervyn; Grescoe, Paul; Gresko, Jacqueline; Griffiths, Garth; Hammer, Heinz; Harris, Lorraine; Harvey, R.G.; Hayman, Bob; Hearn, George; Henry, Tom; Hope, James; Horton, Timothy; Hungry Wolf, Adolf; Huntley, Edward (Ted); Kelly, Brian; Kennedy, W.G.; Lamb, W.K.; Lanz, Walter; Leonard, Frank; Lewis, Donald C.; MacKay, Donald; Maiden, Cecil; Martin, J. Edward; Matheson, George; May, David; McAllister, Bruce; McKee, Bill; Moir, George Thompson; Muralt, Darryl; O'Neill, Wiggs; Ommundsen, Peter D.; Oum, Tae; Parker, Douglas; Patterson, Edward; Pendakur, Setty; Pole, Graeme; Preston, Dave; Rees-Thomas, David; Robb, Judy; Schofield, Jack; Secretan, J.H.; Skene, Wayne; Smith, Blake; Smuin, Joe; Spilsbury, Jim; Steed, Roger G.; Taylor, G.W.; Terpening, Rex; Twigg, Arthur M.; Volovsek, Walter O.; Wells, Martin; Whetham, Bob; White, Elwood; Whitesitt, Larry; Wilby, Thomas W.; Williams, Maurice; Wilson, Ralph.] @2010.
Tales of the KVR: The Kettle Valley Railway Remembered (The National Railway Historical Society, 2021) $21.95 9780973560237
[BCBW 2022]
Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
McCulloch's Wonder-The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway
Steel Rails and Iron Men: A Pictorial History of the Kettle Valley Railway
Train Master: The Railway Art of Max Jacquiard
Completing the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) easily ranks in the "top ten" of B.C. engineering feats. It took three decades to construct a rail line through five mountain passes, including the Coquihalla Pass and Myra Canyon. Hence the most difficult railway in Canada to operate, the KVR was often referred to as McCulloch's Wonder, citing the achievements of turn-of-the-century engineer Andrew McCulloch.
Railway buff Barrie Sanford spent ten years researching the building of the KVR line for McCulloch's Wonder: The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway (1977) which has gone through numerous printings. Sales were boosted in 2003 by the forest fires south of Kelowna that destroyed some of the KVR's bridgework, bringing cross-Canada attention to the rail line that was once considered the lifeline of southern B.C. The KVR is also the subject of Sanford's pictorial history, Steel Rails and Iron Men (1990).
FULL ENTRY:
Designing the short-lived Kettle Valley Railroad, then taking three decades to construct a Kootenay line through the Coquihalla Pass and Myra Canyon, easily ranks in the 'top ten' of B.C. engineering feats. That's why the most difficult railway in Canada to operate, the KVR, was often referred to as McCulloch's Wonder in honour of turn-of-the-century engineer Andrew McCulloch. Railway buff Barrie Sanford spent ten years researching the building of the Kettle Valley Railway line for McCulloch's Wonder: The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway (Whitecap, 1977) which has gone through numerous printings. Sanford updated McCulloch's Wonder in 2003. The book's sales were boosted in 2003 by the forest fires south of Kelowna that destroyed some of the KVR's bridgework, bringing cross-Canada attention to the rail line that was once considered the lifeline of southern B.C. Three decades under construction, across five mountain passes, mainly overseen by Chief Engineer Andrew McCullough, the KVR is also the subject of Sanford's pictorial history, Steel Rails and Iron Men (Whitecap, 1990).
Born in New Westminster and raised in White Rock, Sanford is an avid photographer who has lived in Quesnel and has an engineering degree from UBC, plus a business administration degree from SFU. In 1972 he won an award for best technical paper in British Columbia from the Corporation of B.C. Land Surveyors.
Entranced by the opening and closing of the New Westminster train bridge as a child, Barrie Sanford was married on a train near the bridge and eventually wrote Royal Metal: The People, Times and Trains of New Westminster Bridge (Sandhill / National Railway Historical Society, 2004). In addition, Sanford has produced the Pictorial History of Railroading in British Columbia, as well as Railway by the Bay: 100 Years of Trains at White Rock, Crescent Beach and Ocean Park (National Railway Historical Society, 2009).
Barry Sanford has written the text to accompany the images of steam trains throughout British Columbia for Train Master: The Railway Art of Max Jacquiard (Sandhill/Sanford, 2012), a collection of art by Canada's leading railway artist. 978-0-9735602-2-0 $39.95
[The best-known transportation author of B.C. is Robert Turner. For others, see abcbookworld entries for Affleck, Edward L.; Anderson, J.F.; Armstrong, Cliff; Baird, Ian MacLeod; Bannerman, Gary; Barnard, John; Barr, James; Beaudoin, Ted; Bennett, Norma V.; Berton, Pierre; Booth, Jan; Bradley, Ken; Brown, Jim; Burrows, Roger; Clapp, Frank; Coates, Ken; Cockfield, Ian; Condit, John; Corley-Smith, Peter; Cotsworth, M.B.; Cox, Doug; Craig, Andy; de Goutiere, Justin; Doeksen, Gerry Corwin; Downs, Art; Duffy, Dennis J.; Ewert, Henry; Fleming, Sandford; Garden, John; Garner, Lloyd; Green, Mervyn; Grescoe, Paul; Gresko, Jacqueline; Griffiths, Garth; Hammer, Heinz; Harris, Lorraine; Harvey, R.G.; Hayman, Bob; Hearn, George; Henry, Tom; Hope, James; Horton, Timothy; Hungry Wolf, Adolf; Huntley, Edward (Ted); Kelly, Brian; Kennedy, W.G.; Lamb, W.K.; Lanz, Walter; Leonard, Frank; Lewis, Donald C.; MacKay, Donald; Maiden, Cecil; Martin, J. Edward; Matheson, George; May, David; McAllister, Bruce; McKee, Bill; Moir, George Thompson; Muralt, Darryl; O'Neill, Wiggs; Ommundsen, Peter D.; Oum, Tae; Parker, Douglas; Patterson, Edward; Pendakur, Setty; Pole, Graeme; Preston, Dave; Rees-Thomas, David; Robb, Judy; Schofield, Jack; Secretan, J.H.; Skene, Wayne; Smith, Blake; Smuin, Joe; Spilsbury, Jim; Steed, Roger G.; Taylor, G.W.; Terpening, Rex; Twigg, Arthur M.; Volovsek, Walter O.; Wells, Martin; Whetham, Bob; White, Elwood; Whitesitt, Larry; Wilby, Thomas W.; Williams, Maurice; Wilson, Ralph.] @2010.
Tales of the KVR: The Kettle Valley Railway Remembered (The National Railway Historical Society, 2021) $21.95 9780973560237
[BCBW 2022]
Review of the author's work by BC Studies:
McCulloch's Wonder-The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway
Steel Rails and Iron Men: A Pictorial History of the Kettle Valley Railway
Train Master: The Railway Art of Max Jacquiard
Articles: 5 Articles for this author
McCulloch’s Wonder: The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway
Article
WHEN WILLIAM VAN HORNE'S FIRST Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive entered B.C. 200 miles north of the Canada/U.S. border, at the most northerly point of the train's route across Canada, it brought with it Ottawa's promises of prosperity and unity.
Two years later silver was discovered in the Kootenays.
With American trains running so close to the Kootenay border that some residents could hear whistles in the night, the CPR's Thomas Shaughnessy asked engineer Andrew McCulloch to undertake a three-decade struggle to connect the lucrative Kootenays to the CPR station at Hope over mountainous terrain thought to be impassable by builders of the national rail line.
The remarkable story of how the lifeline of Southern British Columbia was constructed and maintained for half a century, Barrie Sanford's McCulloch's Wonder: The Story of the Kettle Valley Railway (Whitecap $12.95), has been reprinted for the first time in paperback after three hardcover editions. Written after 10 years of extensive research, the 1977 book traces an inspiring, saddening chapter of B.C. history from the 1890s to the removal of the last spike from the Boston Bar to Brodie section on October 24, 1962.
The construction of the Hope-Princeton highway in the 1950's severely decreased Kettle Valley traffic but it was a CPR decision in 1961 to divert coast-bound Kootenay freight via the mainline removing over 80 per cent of the freight overnight that effectively scuttled the Kettle Valley Division.
[Autumn / BCBW 1988]
Royal Metal: The People, Times and Trains of New Westminster Bridge
Info
Born in New Westminster and raised in White Rock, Barrie Sanford was entranced by the opening and closing of the New Westminster train bridge as a child. The allure of that bridge has remained so strong that Sanford and his bride were recently married on a train nearby the bridge. Having long ago acquired his engineering degree, Sanford has yet to satisfy his childhood ambition to design a bridge, but he has published several successful books about railroads--including his newly released Royal Metal: The People, Times and Trains of New Westminster Bridge (Sandhill / National Railway Historical Society $39.95). 0973560207
[BCBW 2005]
Royal Metal: The People, Times and Trains of New Westminster Bridge
Info
Born in New Westminster and raised in White Rock, Barrie Sanford was entranced by the opening and closing of the New Westminster train bridge as a child. The allure of that bridge has remained so strong that Sanford and his bride were recently married on a train nearby the bridge. Having long ago acquired his engineering degree, Sanford has yet to satisfy his childhood ambition to design a bridge, but he has published several successful books about railroads--including his newly released Royal Metal: The People, Times and Trains of New Westminster Bridge (Sandhill / National Railway Historical Society $39.95). 0973560207
[BCBW 2005]
Royal Metal: The People, Times and Trains of New Westminster Bridge
Info
Born in New Westminster and raised in White Rock, Barrie Sanford was entranced by the opening and closing of the New Westminster train bridge as a child. The allure of that bridge has remained so strong that Sanford and his bride were recently married on a train nearby the bridge. Having long ago acquired his engineering degree, Sanford has yet to satisfy his childhood ambition to design a bridge, but he has published several successful books about railroads--including his newly released Royal Metal: The People, Times and Trains of New Westminster Bridge (Sandhill / National Railway Historical Society $39.95). 0973560207
[BCBW 2005]
Train Master: The Railway Art of Max Jacquiard
Article (2012)
Scorned by his art teachers for having an obsession with detail rather than using the broad, sweeping brush strokes they asserted were necessary to transmit the "feelings"; of a legitimate artist, Max Jacquiard quit art school and went on to develop his own distinctive artistic style and focus.
In his youth, steam locomotives had fascinated him. So instead of the flowers and bowls of fruit of his art classes, Jacquiard painted steam locomotives in thundering action, often set in dramatic mountain scenes in British Columbia or Alberta.
Today, railway-themed paintings and prints by Jacquiard grace thousands of homes and offices across North America. Jacquiard has also been inducted into the Railway Association of Canada for his amazing artwork.
Barrie Sanford has teamed with Max Jacquiard to produce Train Master: The Railway Art of Max Jacquiard (National Railway Historical Society / Sandhill $39.95). The coffee table book displays 100 of Max's finest paintings, along with background text and other illustrations.
Jacquiard thoroughly researches the background of each proposed painting to ensure the landscape is true to life and the locomotive portrayed has the correct paint scheme and mechanical features it had in real life. He knows the wrath he will endure if he portrays a locomotive with a Worthington feedwater heater when true train worshipers know that particular locomotive had an Elesco feedwater heater.
Barrie Sanford is one of only 150 authors named in Alan Twigg's overview of B.C. literature from 1774 to 2000, The Essentials, due to his classic book on the Kettle Valley Railway. 978-0-9735602-2-0
[BCBW 2012]
