The railway was built by Daniel Chase Corbin, an American financier. In 1888, he built north from Spokane, Washington with his Spokane Falls and Northern Railway to Little Dalles in the United States by 1890. The British Columbia government initially resisted granting him a charter to build across the border into Canada because they were concerned the railway would only be a feeder railway to the American interests in Spokane, especially the Great Northern Railway. However, in 1891 Corbin persuaded the provincial legislature to pass a private act incorporating the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway, by promising to connect the railway to the coast and by using a group of Canadian businessmen as a front for the railway. With the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company providing boat access along the Columbia River to his railway he had indirect access to the rich mining areas of the Kootenays. Concerned with this development, the Canadian Pacific Railway reacted by building the Columbia and Kootenay Railway between Robson and Nelson in 1891 along the unnavigable section of the Kootenay River between Kootenay Lake and the Arrow Lakes. In 1893, Corbin received a charter from the Canadian government, declaring it to be a work for the greater advantage of Canada and transferring the railway corporation to federal jurisdiction. The connection to the coast was never built but the railway did reach Nelson in 1893. With an all rail route to the United States and direct access to the Great Northern, the N&FS could provide more direct access to markets than the CPR could with its C&K.
Legacy
The railway line was operated by a variety of corporate owners following the GN acquisition in 1898. The GN was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970. The creation of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway in 1996 saw the N&FS receive its third change in ownership. The track was gradually abandoned south from Nelson to Salmo during the 1990s. The only significant traffic source on the line is related to the forestry industry in the form of wood products. The abandoned section from Salmo to Nelson has been acquired by the provincial government and converted to the Salmo-Troup Rail Trail.
Route
From south to north, the railway was a branch of the Spokane Falls and Northern Railroad and started at the United States border on the Columbia River at Waneta, and crossed a 500-foot bridge over the Pend d'Oreille River that still stands. The railway climbed out of the Columbia Valley past the community of Fruitvale to Salmo. From Salmo, the railway went north up the Salmo River valley to Ymir and then began the descent to Kootenay Lake. The line passed Nelson to the east as it descends along the hillside. It reaches lake level at Troup Junction, about 6 km east of Nelson and returned at lake level to the city. When the Canadian Pacific Railway built along Kootenay Lake in 1900, the section between Nelson and Troup Junction was sold to the CPR and GN was given trackage rights.
