Fernie & District Historical Society, FMP01030

$ 30 m gross coal cars gross each day

Diesel Engines

Elk Valley

BC

A RIBBON of RAIL Tied FERNIE to COAL CREEK’ s PAST

DID YOU NOTICE the black coal and grey, pumice-like coke on the trail surface so far? You’ re travelling on the abandoned Morrissey, Fernie and Michel( MF & M)

MF & M engine

Fernie & District Historical Society, FMP01362

Replace Steam engines in 1946

Steam engines once chugged along the MF & M rail line, fueled by local coal. In 1946, diesel engines replaced them, ironically sealing the fate of the very mines that powered these trains. Coal Creek shut in 1958 after 60 years of coal mining because it lost it’ s main coal contract, the Canadian Pacific Railway.

How did Fernie get its name?

Fernie’ s City Hall was once the head office of the Crow’ s Nest Pass Coal Company( CNPCC). William Fernie, one of the company founders, gave the town its name- a constant reminder of the community’ s roots in coal and industry.

The MF & M was our lifeline to the outside world.

It hauled millions of tons of coal over the years on the first leg of a journey to distant ports. The train transported miners who lived in Fernie to the mines at Coal Creek. It took us to Fernie to see parades and concerts, to do our shopping, and at Christmas time, there was that special trip to visit Toyland at the Trites-Wood’ s store.

- Grace Dvorak, Coal Creek Resident

Fernie City Hall

Fernie & District Historical Society, FMP01030

Coal Exports Over Time

1897

2025

→ Everyday, 5 trains export coal from the Elk Valley to Vancouver.

→ 21,280 tonnes of coal are on each train.

→ The 2025 spot price for metallurgical coal was $ 278 CDN / tonne, $ 6 million per train or $ 30 million gross exports a day.

140 tonnes

1 tonne x 140 =

152 modern coal cars

Over several months of mining between 1897-1898, the Crow’ s Nest Pass Coal Company had hauled in wagons 9,483 metric tonnes of coal, filling 68 modern coal cars or almost half a train worth $ 2.6 million in 2025 dollars.

25.2 million tonnes of coal were exported from the Elk Valley in 2025 worth $ 7 billion. In 1907, CNPCC exported 875,890 tones worth $ 2.44 million( today’ s value) or 3.4 % of today’ s export.

one modern coal car

152 modern coal cars

152 modern coal cars

152 modern coal cars

152 modern coal cars

=

$ 6 m 152 modern

=

$ 30 m gross coal cars gross each day