In 1997, BNSF sold the abandoned Salmo–Troup rails to Canadian Rail Track Materials for removal, and the provincial government acquired the right-of-way for conversion to the Salmo-Troup Rail Trail. In 1998, International Reload Systems subsidiary, International Rail Road Systems (IRRS), leased the Columbia Gardens–Salmo section, interlining with BNSF to the south, and abandoned north of Parks. IRRS handled concentrates for the Trail smelter and lumber shipments. In 2010, ATCO Wood Products purchased the section, which was renamed the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway Corporation in 2012. In 2004, OmniTRAX subsidiary, Kettle Falls International Railway, leased to purchase Chewelah, Washington–Waneta–Columbia Gardens. In 2019, Progressive Rail subsidiary, St. Paul & Pacific Northwest Railroad, acquired ownership. Notable court case In the 1890s, the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway was involved in a court case which resulted in a significant ruling on Canadian constitutional law. A train operated by the railway killed two horses. The owner of the horses sued for damages, under a provincial statute. Although the owner of the horses was successful at trial, the British Columbia Supreme Court overturned the decision, ruling that the provincial statute did not apply to the railway, which was under federal jurisdiction. That ruling was upheld by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, at that time the highest appellate body in the British Empire: Madden v Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway Co. Footnotes References Defunct British Columbia railways Predecessors of the Burlington Northern Railroad Predecessors of the Great Northern Railway (U.S.) West Kootenay History of British Columbia