McCulloch's Wonder is the classic story of a classic rail line -- the Kettle Valley Railway. Conceived in the late 1880's as a route to allow the mines of the Kootenay District of southern British Columbia access to the coast and Vancouver, the Kettle Valley Railway became an epic struggle of personalities, politics, finance and geography. Over half a dozen governments rose or fell on issues related to its development and construction. Approximately 100 workers died building and operating it. The Kettle Valley Railway earned its nickname, McCulloch's Wonder, from the railway's chief engineer, Andrew McCulloch, who built the remarkable railway across the backbone of three mountain ranges and some of the most rugged river canyons on the face of the earth. A number of people called it the most difficult and expensive railway ever built.