STEEL RAILS & SILVER DREAMS

This is the story of the Dolly Varden Mine and the Dolly Varden Mines Railway, 18 miles of improbable narrow gauge iron reaching north from the little community of Alice Arm to this rich silver property, now a legend in the annals of mining in British Columbia. In the years between 1916 and 1922, the Dolly Varden Mine was both the brightest hope and the greatest disappointment of the mining industry of Northwest Canada. The Dolly Varden Mines Railway was the last narrow gauge common carrier built in British Columbia. As such it belonged to a select group of little railways that include the Trail Creek Tramway, the Columbia and Western Railway, the Kaslo and Slocan, and the White Pass &. Yukon Route. Narrow gauge didn't enjoy the same popularity in Canada as it did in the United States. In spite of this, its economy of construction made it a natural for building railways into otherwise inaccessible mountain areas such as the site of the Dolly Varden Mine.

Here then, is the story of the spectacular Dolly Varden and the little narrow gauge railroad that connected it with the outside world - a story of compelling interest to aficionados of British Columbia history as well as those who follow the chronicles of mining and the iron horse. The Dolly Varden story has silver, scandal, and steel rails- enough to excite the most complacent admirer of a time not so long ago when British Columbia was a much younger province in the bloom of its pioneering youth."