KVR - Naramata Rock Oven #1 Sight · Penticton

There are signs with the history of the construction of the KVR which are quite interesting. Again long narrow U\'s were used to keep the grade through the mountains no more than 2.2%. The engineering and construction of the KVR through this terrain during 1913-1914 was quite a feat and drew visits from engineers around the world. The rock ovens were used to do baking for a work force that numbered around 2000 workers. Working conditions were rugged and the fresh bread and other food produced by these ovens were probably the high point of the day. Breakfast could be dangerous as workers who had slept in would heat their dynamite in frying pans to quickly warm it up rather than using the slower hot water jackets. Explosions from misjudging the heat required were not uncommon.