In the early 1900s prospectors in the Pacific Northwest between British Columbia and Alaska discovered a mineral-rich vein of metallic ore, bearing exceptionally high yielding deposits of Silver and other trace elements including Gold. But it was the Silver that attracted the greatest interest bearing up to 2200 ounces of Silver per ton of ore.

The area was along the Kitsault River valley north of Alice Arm in dense tall coniferous forest and mountainous terrain making travel in and out of the area difficult at the best of times. With significant amounts of rainfall during the spring, summer and autumn months and enormous amounts of snow, up to 20 feet in the winter months, tracks and routes through the area were mostly impassable and became treacherous trying to traverse the narrow pathways.

The site of these rich deposits became known as the Dolly Varden Mine in 1910 which was just 18 miles north of the tidal estuary of Alice Arm. In 1915 the mine was sold to financiers in Chicago who began improving the area around the mine and started construction of a railroad to move the ore down the Kitsault River valley to an area south of the small community of Alice Arm where a huge wooden ore bunker was to be constructed for barges to transport the ore to a smelting facility.

The Dolly Varden Mines Railway was contracted to the Taylor Engineering Company, which began construction with 35-pound rail and several second-hand locomotives. These were fine for construction, but caused excessive wear on the sharp (up to 39 degrees) curves and didn’t handle the steep 5% grades very well. The railway purchased a new 30-ton Climax locomotive, as well as a used Baldwin 2-4-2t and a Brooks 2-6-0 (which was totally unsuitable for the sharp curves). The Climax could push 4 empty ore cars up the 5% grade and bring back 4 loaded ore cars under braking downgrade.

Wandering through the dense hemlock forest, clawing to the sides of canyons, sharing the path in stretches with the Kitsault River and finally, grinding upgrade to its final terminus at Camp 8. The rugged nature of the railroad is evident even in its structures: The ore tipple at Camp 8 was constructed primarily of logs, the mining company office construction included the use of a tree trunk to support one corner, even the turnouts were built using standard tie lengths, interlaced between each other to provide extra length. The skill and ingenuity of the railroad engineers at using what was available on site.

The dormant railroad was used for logging on the Kitsault flats between 1924 and 1928. Two camps were established, with nearly 6 miles of logging track laid. A downturn in the price of lumber doomed the operation and the logging lines were pulled up in 1928. In 1929 the property came under the control of the Britannia Mining Mining and Smelting Company, but the Great Depression halted development. The railroad sat idle until it was replaced with a truck road in 1940. After being operated by several subsequent owners, the property was sold to the Dolly Varden Silver Corporation in 2011.