The Last Spike
The most famous “last spike” in British Columbia is the one which signaled completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, but there were two others pounded in the province. In June 1914 the Grand Trunk Railway completed its expansion to the west coast, with the last spike placed near Fort Fraser, and on January 23 1915 its rival, the Canadian Northern Pacific, hammered home its last spike between Spences Bridge and Ashcroft. A “Stop of Interest” plaque off Highway 1 near the site commemorates the event, and the railroad.
The Canadian Northern Pacific was an extension of the Canadian Northern line, run by businessmen and railway entrepreneurs Donald Mann and William Mackenzie. They wanted to expand their existing rail lines—mostly in the Prairies—to compete with the lucrative Canadian Pacific line, which meant moving east into Ontario and west to British Columbia. Unfortunately, Charles Hays of the Grand Trunk Railway had the same idea at much the same time, and the two companies found themselves in unofficial competition to be first through the Rockies to the Pacific coast: the Grand Trunk to Prince Rupert and the Canadian Northern Pacific to Vancouver.
The difficulty of building rail lines through the Rockies and the Interior, plus high labour and material costs due to World War One, meant that by the time the last spike was pounded home, the Canadian Northern Pacific was heavily in debt. In 1918, unable to pay the interest on its loans, it was taken over by the Canadian government and incorporated into its national railway system, which became Canadian National. The same fate befell the Grand Trunk Railway in 1920.
The CN line passes below the last spike plaque, following the west side of the Thompson River and cutting through Epsom Provincial Park. The 102 hectare park was created in 1997, and is one of the few places in the area giving public access to the Thompson.
From Gold Country