KVR Trestle Safety

Kettle Valley Railway section foremen had a critical ritual: inspecting every trestle along their stretch of railway.

They would station themselves beneath the bridge as a train rumbled overhead. “We would listen to what the trestle had to say,” one recalled. “A wooden trestle is like your wife. If she nags and groans, all is normal. But if she goes silent… you’re in trouble.”

Wood, after all, is alive in its own way. As the train’s weight pressed down, the timbers would creak and moan, speaking their strength. When the bridge went silent, it was a warning: the wood was rotting, and danger was near.

Foremen relied on this language of timber to keep the railway — and its passengers — safe.