page_title: Republic, Washington
section_title: The "Hot Air Line"
hierarchical_section_title: Republic, Washington / History / The "Hot Air Line"
caption_attribution_description: English: An incomplete 6.5&#160;cm (2.6&#160;in) Schoepfia republicensis leaf missing the elongated drip tip apex. Ypresian, Latest Early Eocene; Tom Thumb Tuff member, Klondike Mountain Formation, Republic, Washington, U.S.A. Stonerose Interpretive Center, Republic, Ferry County, Washington, U.S.A. Collection number SR 98-11-05
context_page_description: Republic is a city in Ferry County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,073 at the 2010 census, a 12.5% increase over the 2000 Census. It is the county seat of Ferry County. It was the largest mining camp in the Republic mining District, and home to the "Hot Air Line" railway.
context_section_description: The Spokane and British Columbia Railway, originally the Republic and Kettle Valley Railway, was a short lived standard-gauge private rail company based out of Republic operating between Republic, Grand Forks and Lynch Creek British Columbia.  The line was locally known as the "Hot Air line".  The line began operation in 1902 as the Republic and Kettle Valley Railway, before being bought out in 1916. The company was initially incorporated in 1901 with J. Stratton as president, with construction of the line between Republic and danville, Washington at the United States-Canadian border being contracted to the Republic and Grand Forks Construction Company, itself owned by Stratton.  The rail line paralleled the Great Northern spur line from Republic through Malo and Curlew, Washington to Danville.  The northern was initially surveyed by the Republic and Kettle River company, but they were forced to build on higher ground beyond the Great Northern land boundaries.  At the border, the line leased rail access from the Kettle Valley Railway to connect to Grand Forks 4 mi (6.4 km) north of the border and then on another 18 mi (29 km) to Lynch Creek.  On January 2, 1902 the railroad was also approved by the Secretary of the Interior to conduct surveying for a southern line though the Colville Indian Reservation along the Sanpoil River. From the boundary of the reservation the railway located a line along the Columbia river and then up the Spokane River to a junction with the then defunct Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway road bed.
caption: Schoepfia republicensis leaf fossil, in the collections of Stonerose
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