British Columbia - During the Second World War (1939-1945), and for some time afterward, the Radio Range Station on King Solomon Mountain at Carmi generated its own power.
 
It had Caterpillar generating sets.
 
Diesel fuel was supplied by Roy Pollard's Imperial Oil agency in Kelowna, and delivered by Jenkins Cartage, usually by my dad on Sunday.
 
I was often allowed to go along, also mom.
 
Just past the fishing camp at McCulloch was another road that had a sign, a piece of corrugated galvanized iron about four feet square.
 
The name "Con Barge" was written on it in rough letters.
 
This was the start of a mystery.
 
Some years later, when I was working, I had a delivery from the Canadian Pacific Railway shed on Water Street.
 
The freight handlers were having their coffee break.
 
Fred Berchtold, one of the crew, was discussing his plans for some time off that he had coming to him.
 
Fred planned a hunting trip with his old friend, Con Barge.
 
Fred pronounced his friend's given name as "Cone".
 
Still later, I read in one of the many books about the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) that Con Barge was a conductor.
 
His hunting cabin was in a nice spot, convenient to the railway.
 
A few years ago, we were camped at the McCulloch dam.
 
I decided to take a walk down the abandoned KVR rail bed.
 
Coming to the road where the metal sign had earlier been, I turned and followed it.
 
Shortly, a cabin came into sight, a total wreck, having been abandoned for a while.
 
But, in front of the cabin was the old sign, the name still legible.
 
The mystery was solved.
 
(Note: According to his British Columbia Death Registration, "John Charles" (Con) Barge was born at London, England, in 1878.
 
As a young boy, he immigrated to Canada with his family, coming to British Columbia in 1911.
 
On his death registration, his occupation was listed as "Rail Roader/Brakeman."
 
Con Barge died at Kelowna on 10 Feb 1958.
 
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A memory from my early years, or perhaps just a story related to me by someone else, was about waiting for a train in Carmi, coming from Penticton.
 
The sound of the approaching train was growing louder then fading away.
 
Eventually, it grew louder again and arrived at the Carmi Station.
 
Around Lois, north of Carmi, the railway was high above the valley, then swung north again, gradually descending towards Wilkinson Creek.
 
After crossing the creek, it turned south again, explaining why the sound had faded.
 
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On one fishing trip to Arlington Lake, we heard a train coming from the south (Carmi).
 
A freight train came noisily chugging into Lakevale (between Carmi and McCulloch), where it met the passenger train.
 
This was a Budd Car, which the KVR used after the passenger business tapered off.
 
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On one trip to Carmi, we were returning with empty barrels.
 
It was in the fall, and the days were growing shorter.
 
From Carmi, we were in the dark, with nothing to see except what the headlights lit up.
 
Then at the McCulloch dam, where the railway was across a bay of the lake, was a passenger train, with all of the windows lit up.
 
Years later, Johnny Cash wrote a song about Folsom Prison that went, "I bet there's rich folks riding in those fancy dining cars, they're probably drinking coffee, and smoking big cigars."
 
This song reminded me of that train.
 
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There were probably quite a few accidents over the years, especially at level crossings in Penticton.
 
One day, when the train from Kamloops to Kelowna was late, it was decided to send the Penticton express and leave the freight until the next day.
 
I took the one ton GMC and delivered the express to the Canadian National office.
 
On the way back out of town, on Westminster Avenue (the highway at that time), I had to stop quickly to avoid hitting a railway car being shunted across the street.
 
I think there was someone waving a lantern, but he was easy to miss.
 
No harm done, though.
 
These are a few of my memories of the Kettle Valley Railway, when all of the main Okanagan Valley towns had rails all over.
 
Now, Kelowna and Penticton are "railway-less."
 
Charley Adam.