Occupying the entirety of the back, north, wall of the museum building is a mural which depicts the character of the Kettle Valley Railway (now Kettle Valley Rail Trail), as it meanders over hill and dale on its tortuous trek from Midway to Hope, BC. The mural also suggests the route's present incarnation as a very popular biking trail, though, of course, it is also a well used walking/hiking trail, and even a cross country ski trail in the cooler months. Completed on April 21, 2000, the signatures on the mural reveal the participation of three individuals in its creation: Guy G., Eric and Emily G.
The Kettle Valley Rail Trail totals 450 km in length, stretching from Midway in the east to Hope in the west. It is broken down into major sections and much smaller subsections. This section, as one heads west, is the Midway to Penticton section, which is broken into seven smaller sections, varying from 14 to 53 km. in length. The first section, Midway to Rock Creek, is 18.2 km. in length. Between Midway and Penticton the trail varies in elevation from 600 metres at Midway to 1300 metres at the Myra Canyon Summit near Kelowna.
This trailhead is also the western terminus of the
Columbia and Western Rail Trail, which heads east to Castlegar.
The Columbia and Western Trail is 162 KM long from Castlegar, British Columbia to Midway, B.C. and travels the abandoned Canadian Pacific Boundary Subdivision with the last train going thru in 1991. In 2000 the C.P.R. donated the line to the Province of British Columbia for a recreational trail to form British Columbia's Trans-Canada Trail network.
The first railway to arrive in the area was the Columbia & Western, a subsidiary of the CPR. It was an extension of the CPR's line at Castlegar, intended to eventually link to the main line which ran to the coast. This link, known as the Kettle Valley Railway, was finished, finally, in 1915, linking the interior with the coast. The KVR ran from this point 600 km. west to meet the main line at Hope, BC. Built through rugged, mountainous terrain, it was hailed as an engineering landmark when completed.
The line remained in operation until, due to a changing economic climate, the KVR was abandoned and the tracks removed, beginning in 1991. Fortunately for us history buffs, a few far sighted individuals have managed to rescue Midway's KVR tation for posterity. The Kettle River Museum ha since been built around the station.
As well as the station, the museum includes a main building housing smaller historical artifacts and interpretive displays of rail, mining, forestry, and agriculture heritage, an artifacts yard with larger artifacts, a caboose, a section house, a
6 bedroom bunkhouse (newly renovated and available to rent for hikers, cyclists and others) and a machine shed, which houses a plethora of mining, railroading and agricultural machinery. In this building is an old Austin Fire Truck, as well. The museum also has a picnic area shaded by a century old maple tree, grown from a seed planted by the wife of the station master.
The Kettle River Museum opened July 12, 1977 in a smaller building within the Village of Midway. That building housed many, or most, of the artifacts and displays to be found in the present main museum building. Some time after 1985 the museum was relocated to this spot to take advantage of the presence of the turn of the century heritage railway station.
Also at the museum is a small gift shop at which one can purchase regional history books and memorabilia.