The Needles Ferry is a cable ferry across Lower Arrow Lake in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. Linking Needles and Fauquier, the ferry, part of BC Highway 6, is by road about southeast of Vernon and southwest of Nakusp.

Timeline 1913: Farmers built the first vehicle ferry using Ford Model T parts. Apart from a reference to a rudimentary raft in 1922, no evidence exists of a service most years. 1924: Government ferry launched, which comprised a log raft pushed by a launch. This free service, had a one-car capacity. 1928: Larger boat introduced. 1931: Wooden hulled cable ferry installed, having three-car capacity. Crossings were hourly. 1941: Upgraded to eight-car capacity. 1952: Upgraded to 16-car capacity. 1955: Service increased from 12 to 24 hours per day. 1967: Replacement bridge confirmed, but never eventuated. 1968: Both terminals rebuilt on submerging by the reservoir for the Keenleyside Dam. 1969: Diesel-powered Needles with 28-car capacity introduced. 1990: Needles relocated to Upper Arrow Lake Ferry route. Replaced by a 40-vehicle, 150-passenger cable ferry. At was longest haul cable in North America. 2002: Service reduced to 17 hours per day. 2004: Western Pacific Marine became the service contractor. c.2013: WaterBridge Ferries became the service provider. 2019: Ferry crew observed a submerged pickup truck just off the Needles ferry landing.

Patronage

Patronage (1924–1947) (Double these numbers for single trips) Type Year Page Round Trips Motor Vehicles Horse- drawn rigs Passengers Freight (tons) Livestock Total VehiclesPower boat 1924–25 Q38 1,008 256 30 2,186 682 36 286 1925–26 Q38 1,852 2,557 56 4,037 42 100 2,613 1926–27 P46 2,264 1,604 44 6,004 46 96 1,648 1927–28 U52 7,138 1,530 40 5,162 39 41 1,570 1928–29 S61 2,155 2,442 38 5,972 89 86 2,480 1929–30 T74 2,155 2,366 79 5,899 68 87 2,445 Power cable 1930–31 G50 4,102 4,790 231 11,354 340 172 5,021 1931–32 M40 4,117 5,244 385 11,836 582 159 5,629 1932–33 Q36 4,049 4,438 369 13,203 503 135 4,807 1933–34 O32 4,675 4,740 510 14,827 784 259 5,250 1934–35 T37 5,427 6,181 700 18,449 719 605 6,881 1935–36 I44 5,637 6,882 661 18,834 820 239 7,543 1936–37 X52 5,992 7,733 825 19,804 998 355 8,558 1937–38 X55 6,823 9,046 911 22,305 1,292 228 9,957 1938–39 Z56 6,580 9,188 758 20,605 1,830 262 9,946 1939–40 P56 7,220 9,346 541 21,324 1,938 310 9,887 1940–41 O47 7,109 10,237 359 18,403 1,181 360 10,596 1941–42 T52 6,628 10,894 229 20,010 2,116 590 11,123 1942–43 O52 5,764 8,318 316 14,367 3,525 441 8,634 1943–44 Q52 4,984 7,359 225 12,679 1,730 426 7,584 1944–45 O51 4,985 7,284 74 14,699 1,814 217 7,358 1945–46 Q58 5,426 8,620 264 14,037 1,707 330 8,884 1946–47 P47 7,262 11,971 88 27,079 7,416 345 12,059

Patronage (1947–1960) (Double these numbers for single trips) Type Year Page Round Trips Passenger Autos Passengers (Drivers excluded) Trucks Trailers & Semis Buses Motor- cycles Horse- drawn rigs Freight (tons) Livestock Misc. Veh. Total Vehicles Power cable 1947–48 N56 7,435 6,759 30,300 4,466 1,426 1,625 20 146 2,750 163 14,442 1948–49 O60 9,953 10,558 49,803 6,427 394 1,787 29 164 6,361 170 19,359 1949–50 Q74 12,928 15,311 60,151 9,970 433 1,737 19 71 6,798 140 27,541 1950–51 N77 14,437 16,854 60,045 11,635 208 1,450 18 74 6,179 174 30,239 1951–52 P83 12,868 12,758 52,322 10,200 372 1,535 10 45 4,614 99 24,920 1952–53 O85 12,738 13,662 50,004 9,071 852 2,067 30 63 5,317 136 25,745 1953–54 M93 16,009 19,216 60,776 11,911 544 1,997 63 18 4,560 84 33,749 1954–55 K95 15,506 17,828 55,003 11,733 558 2,035 26 25 4,891 110 32,205 1955–56 N88 14,601 16,783 48,373 10,947 379 1,661 11 26 67 4 29,811 1956–57 J100 15,326 18,103 52,668 13,254 601 919 4 31 60 32,912 1957–58 G53 15,428 20,400 56,907 13,420 528 720 10 12 71 6 35,096 1958–59 G36 14,226 18,863 53,049 10,515 515 870 12 104 30,775 1959–60 F41 15,226 20,939 53,077 11,450 561 718 10 8 82 33,686

Operation The ferry operates under private contract with the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and is free of tolls, as are all inland ferries in British Columbia.

Departures are every thirty minutes, from the first at 5 am until the last at 10 pm, with a crossing time of about five minutes. The ferry has capacity for 40 vehicles and 135 passengers.

See also Steamboats of the Arrow Lakes List of Inland Ferries in British Columbia

Footnotes

References