Known locally as "The Black Bridge" and built around 1897-98 this bridge served the CPR for both freight and passenger service on the Columbia and Western Railway until the 1960s, when passenger service in the area was discontinued. By 1988 the CPR folded all of its operations in Grand Forks, leaving behind only the railway station and a few bridges in the area, this being one of them.
As do many towns these days, Grand Forks eventually saw its value as a landmark, and incorporated it into a system of walking/jogging/hiking/biking trails within the city.
BTW, for the benchmark hunters, 439j is in the north end of this bridge's west concrete abutment.
A Little History
While the Trans Continental Rail Line was completed in 1885, it was quite far north of the mines and gold fields of Southern British Columbia. To stop the traffic and revenues from flowing south into the United States, a plan was drawn up to construct a southern rail crossing connecting these mines with the coast, thereby increasing the revenues flowing into the Province's coffers.
The Columbia and Western Railway, a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, was built from Castlegar to Grand Forks in 1899 at a cost of over $4,500,000, which was a extremely large sum of money at the time. The line was extended west to Midway in 1902, and to Merritt in 1915. At one point there were three different railway companies competing for the business. Two companies, the Great Northern and the Canadian Pacific Railway nearly went broke in the race to provide service to the coast.
As the volume of traffic increased, the rail line was upgraded with the original wooden trestles and bridges replaced with permanent steel structures. The covered bridge across the Cascade Gorge, the only one of its kind in southern BC, was one of the bridges replaced. In 1913 the Black Train Bridge was replaced with the steel span that you see today.
Over time, the road network through the Southern Interior was expanded, with the Cascade Highway being built as part of the new Interprovincial highway in the 1930s. With more roads there were more cars — and inevitably passenger service declined. Finally with only freight service and the ever expanding road network, the Canadian Pacific Railway began the process of abandoning the rail line.
At this progressed from concept to the reality of the removal of the rail lines in 1991, the Boundary Pathway was born, turning the abandoned rail grade into a bikeway. When the Trans Canada Trail was announced as a part of the 125th Anniversary celebrations in 1992, it seemed a natural fit that this should form a part of the national trail. In 2001 the Grand Forks Community Trails Society was incorporated, and since that time the Society has worked to expand and upgrade the trails in and around Grand Forks.
From the plaque