The Fraser had to be crossed below Lytton, since beyond that point the railway would follow the Thompson river towards Savona. Along the Fraser, north of Boston Bar, more tunnels had to be blasted through rocks, and every creek and river emptying into the Fraser had to be crossed with a trestle or a bridge. Over 600 bridges and trestles had to be built over the course of Onderdonk's contracts. Fortunately, there was no shortage of lumber. Onderdonk even had his own saw mill in operation at Texas Creek below Emory. Before any rails had been set down, the lumber had to be hauled up the Cariboo Road, which was a toll road. Beyond Boston Bar, where navigation was again possible, Onderdonk could use the river to bring railway building materials to where they were needed. For this purpose, he built a little sternwheeler called the Scuzzy above Yale and with great difficulty, got it up through Hell's Gate to Boston Bar.
On Contract 61, where the railway crossed the Fraser, an impressive Iron Cantilever Bridge had to be erected, one of the first of its kind to be constructed in North America. Many excellent photographs of this section exist, both in the Onderdonk albums at the B.C. Archives, as well as in the collections of the City of Vancouver Archives and the Vancouver Public Library.
Progress on the railway was especially noted from 1882 when much work was done on the contract, thanks to the arrival of thousands of Chinese labourers, many directly from China.
The Inland Sentinel was able to note the progress of the works between Boston Bar and Lytton:
ontract No. 61 began at Boston Bar and continued along the Fraser until the village of Lytton where the Thompson River flowed into the Fraser. The length of this contract was 29 miles and it was signed on February 10, 1880. The date of completion was set at June 30, 1884. The scheduled price was $2,573,640.
