North Bend was established in the 1880s as the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was being laid through the Fraser Canyon on its way to Vancouver. Here the CPR was on the west side of the Fraser River. The town of North Bend grew up around the railway and prospered for many years, until the decline in rail travel and the advent of road travel. It then became isolated from the outside world by the river, as the Trans Canada Highway was built in the east side of the river. Also built on the east side was the Canadian Northern Railway in 1913, later to become the Canadian National Railway (CNR). The town of
Boston Bar grew around the CNR tracks, the two towns remaining isolated from each other for nearly 30 more years.
Both the CPR and CNR lines in the Fraser Canyon are main lines, each being one of two mainlines to the west coast for their respective railways. This location is at the CNR line as it runs through Boston Bar on the east side of the river. This is on the only road between Boston Bar and North Bend, Boston Bar Station Road, on the western edge of town. Wait here long enough and several long trains hauling all manner of freight will pass by. They seem to alternate between northbound and southbound, one every hour or less.
Nearby, just 50 metres east of the tracks, is the old CN depot, now in sad shape, but tue to undergo restoration to become the Boston Bar Museum and a restaurant.