The
Canadian Northern Railway (
CNoR) is a historic
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
transcontinental railway. At its demise in 1923, when it was merged into the
Canadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
, the CNoR owned a main line between
Quebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
and
VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
via
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
,
WinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, and
EdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
.
Manitoba beginnings
CNoR had its start in the independent branchlines that were being constructed in
ManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
in the 1880s and 1890s as a response to the
monopolyA monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
exercised by
Canadian Pacific RailwayThe Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CPR). Many of these branchlines were built with the sponsorship of the provincial government, which sought to subsidize local competition to the federally subsidized CPR; however, significant competition was also provided by the encroaching
Northern Pacific RailwayThe Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...
(NPR) from the south.
Two of these branchline contractors,
William MackenzieSir William Mackenzie was a Canadian railway contractor and entrepreneur.Born near Peterborough, Ontario, Mackenzie became a teacher and politician before entering business as the owner of a sawmill and gristmill in Kirkfield, Ontario...
and
Donald MannSir Donald Mann was a Canadian railway contractor and entrepreneur.Born at Acton, Ontario, Mann studied as a Methodist minister but worked in lumber camps in Ontario and Michigan before moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba...
, took control of the bankrupt
Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company in January, 1896. Mackenzie and Mann expanded their enterprise, in 1897, by building further north into Manitoba's Interlake district as well as east and west of
WinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
. They also began building and buying lines south to connect the U.S. border at
Pembina, North DakotaPembina is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota in the United States. The population was 592 at the 2010 census.The area of Pembina was long inhabited by various indigenous peoples...
, and east to
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
Connecting the Prairies to the Lakehead
The Canadian Northern Railway was established, in 1899, and all railway companies owned by Mackenzie and Mann (primarily in Manitoba) were consolidated into the new entity. CNoR's first step toward competing directly with CPR came at the turn of the century with the decision to build a line linking the Prairie Provinces with
Lake SuperiorLake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
at the harbour in
Port ArthurPort Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario which amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Port Arthur was the district seat of Thunder Bay District.- History :...
-
Fort WilliamFort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Ever since then it has been the largest city in Northwestern...
(modern
Thunder Bay-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
,
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
) which would permit the shipping of western grain to European markets as well as the transport of eastern Canadian goods to the West. This line incorporated an existing CNoR line to
Lake of the WoodsLake of the Woods is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. It separates a small land area of Minnesota from the rest of the United States. The Northwest Angle and the town of Angle Township can only be reached from the rest of...
and two local Ontario railways, the
Port Arthur, Duluth and Western RailwayThe Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway is a defunct Canadian railway that operated in Northwestern Ontario.The PADW was built in 1889 by investors interested in extracting the mineral and timber wealth of the Whitefish River Valley, Silver Mountain Range and beyond into the Boundary Waters...
and the Ontario and Rainy River Railway whose charters Mackenzie and Mann had acquired in 1897. To reach Port Arthur which became the lake terminus of the CNoR, the line extended south of Lake of the Woods into northern
MinnesotaMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
before heading northeast through
Rainy River DistrictRainy River District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1885. It is the only division in Ontario that lies completely in the Central time zone. Its seat is Fort Frances...
to the head of navigation on the
Great LakesThe Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
. The Winnipeg-Port Arthur line was completed on December 30, 1901 with the last spike being driven just east of Atikokan station by Ontario's Commissioner of Crown Lands,
Elihu DavisElihu James Davis was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented York North in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal member from 1888 to 1904....
.
Throughout this time, Mackenzie and Mann had been busy expanding their
prairieThe Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...
branch line network to feed the connection to Port Arthur. This network expanded in subsequent years to cover most parts of the prairies.
Going it alone
In 1903, the federal government and
Grand Trunk RailwayThe Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
(GTR) were seeking a 2nd transcontinental railway for Canada and approached Mackenzie and Mann to seek their co-operation. This effort was spurned and GTR and the federal government would go on to form a system composed of the
Grand Trunk Pacific RailwayThe Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historical Canadian railway.A wholly owned subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway , the GTPR was constructed by GTR using loans provided by the Government of Canada. The company was formed in 1903 with a mandate to build west from Winnipeg, Manitoba to the...
(GTPR) and the
National Transcontinental RailwayThe National Transcontinental Railway was a historic Canadian railway between Winnipeg and Moncton. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway.-The Grand Trunk partnership:...
(NTR).
Nationwide expansion
Mackenzie and Mann began their first significant expansion outside of the prairies with the purchase of Great Lakes steamships, railways into northern
QuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
's
SaguenaySaguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean is a region in Quebec, Canada. It contains the Saguenay Fjord, the estuary of the Saguenay River, stretching through much of the region...
region and the acquisition of branchlines in southwestern
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
(the
H&SWThe Halifax and Southwestern Railway was a historic Canadian railway operating in the province of Nova Scotia. The H&SW was created in spring 1901 when William Mackenzie and Donald Mann approached the provincial government with plans to finish the abortive plans for a railway from Halifax to...
) and western
Cape Breton IslandCape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
. Other acquisitions were in
southern OntarioSouthern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...
and a connecting line was built from
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to
Parry SoundParry Sound is a town in Central Ontario, Canada, located on Parry Sound on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay. Parry Sound is located south of Sudbury and north of Toronto. It is the seat of Parry Sound District, a popular cottage country region for Southern Ontario residents. It is also the...
.
In 1905, CNoR reached the newly formed provincial capital at
EdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
,
AlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
.
In Eastern Canada, in 1908, a line was built east from a connection at
Capreol, OntarioCapreol is a community in the Ontario city of Greater Sudbury. From 1918 to 2000, Capreol existed as an independent town, situated on the Vermilion River....
on the Toronto-Parry Sound line to
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
and on to
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. In 1910 a direct Toronto-Montreal line was built. In 1911, federal funding was made available for construction of the line Montreal-Ottawa-Capreol-Port Arthur. In 1912, with GTR and CPR holding the ideal southern routes around
Mount RoyalMount Royal is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the city to which it gave its name.The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentians and the Appalachians...
to downtown Montreal, CNoR started building a double-tracked mainline north by building the
Mount Royal TunnelThe Mount Royal Tunnel is a railway tunnel located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It connects the city's Gare Centrale/Central Station, located downtown, with the north side of the Island of Montreal and Laval, passing through Mount Royal. Since 1995, the only trains using the tunnel are commuter...
under the mountain.
In western Canada, in 1910 construction was started on the line west of Edmonton through
Yellowhead PassThe Yellowhead Pass is a mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies. It is located on the border between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and lies within Jasper National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park....
to Vancouver, thanks to subsidies provided by the government of
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. In 1911, work was started on a new
townsiteA townsite is a legal subdivision of land for the development of a town or community. In the historical development of the United States, Canada, and other former British colonial nations, the filing of a townsite plat or plan was often the first legal act in the establishment of a new town or...
named Port Mann on the Fraser River that would accommodate the new car shops and from where lines would extend to Vancouver and to the Delta of the Fraser River
Obstacles in the Rockies
CNoR's initial expansion in the 1890s and 1900s had been relatively frugal, largely by acquiring bankrupt companies or finishing failed construction projects. By the 1910s, significant expenses were adding up from the construction north of Lake Superior and the
Mount Royal TunnelThe Mount Royal Tunnel is a railway tunnel located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It connects the city's Gare Centrale/Central Station, located downtown, with the north side of the Island of Montreal and Laval, passing through Mount Royal. Since 1995, the only trains using the tunnel are commuter...
, but the largest costs were from building on "the wrong side" of the
ThompsonThe Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches called the South Thompson and the North Thompson...
and
FraserThe Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
rivers in the mountains of British Columbia. CPR already had trackage on the desirable eastern side, leading to the port of
VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, forcing CNoR to blast tunnels and ledges out of these canyons.
The most infamous construction folly on the CNoR in British Columbia happened in 1913, when blasting for a passage for the railway at
Hells GateHell's Gate is a 35 metre narrowing of British Columbia's Fraser River, located immediately downstream of Boston Bar in the southern Fraser Canyon. The towering rock walls of the Fraser River plunge toward each other forcing the waters through a passage only wide...
triggered an enormous
landslideA landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
which partially blocked the narrow swift-flowing Fraser River. The resulting damage to Pacific
salmonSalmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
runs took decades to reverse by the governmental construction of
fishwaysA fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass or fish steps, is a structure on or around artificial barriers to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration. Most fishways enable fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of relatively low steps into the waters on...
.
In addition to difficult construction between
Jasper, AlbertaJasper is a specialized municipality in western Alberta, Canada. It is the commercial centre of Jasper National Park, located in the Canadian Rockies in the Athabasca River valley....
and Vancouver, CNoR started construction west of Edmonton in 1910, fully two years later than GTPR, which had started construction east from
Prince RupertPrince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and home to some 12,815 people .-History:...
in the
Skeena RiverThe Skeena River is the second longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada . The Skeena is an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan - whose names mean "inside the Skeena River" and "people of the Skeena River" respectively, and also during the...
, leading to Yellowhead Pass.
Resort Development
In 1914, the Canadian Northern Railway bought a 150 acre (0.607029 km²) homestead north of Winnipeg on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. They purchased the land in order to develop a resort on Grand Beach.
Financial trouble and nationalization
The last spike of the CNoR transcontinental railway was driven January 23, 1915, at
Basque, British ColumbiaBasque, British Columbia, is located in the province of British Columbia, Canada, near the village of Ashcroft. It is the post office and whistlestop-crossing on the historic Basque Ranch, one of the earliest ranches in the Interior of British Columbia...
. Freight and passenger service north of Lake Superior also started in 1915, resulting in a system between Montreal and Vancouver, with lines in Nova Scotia, Southern Ontario, Minnesota, and on
Vancouver IslandVancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
. Between 1915 and 1918, CNoR tried desperately to increase profits during the height of conflict in the
First World WarWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
when the majority of wartime traffic was moving on CPR. The company was also saddled with ongoing construction costs associated with the
Mount Royal TunnelThe Mount Royal Tunnel is a railway tunnel located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It connects the city's Gare Centrale/Central Station, located downtown, with the north side of the Island of Montreal and Laval, passing through Mount Royal. Since 1995, the only trains using the tunnel are commuter...
project.
CNoR was heavily indebted to banks and governments, and its profitable branchlines in the prairie provinces — "Canada's breadbasket" — would not generate enough revenue to cover construction costs in other areas. Unable to repay construction costs, the company requested financial aid. In exchange for funds, the federal government gained majority control of shares and CNoR was nationalized on September 6, 1918, when the directors of CNoR, including Mackenzie and Mann, resigned. The replacement board of directors appointed by the federal government forced CNoR to assume the management of federally owned
Canadian Government RailwaysCanadian Government Railways was the legal name used between 1915–1918 for all federal government-owned railways in Canada.The principal component companies were: the Intercolonial Railway of Canada , the National Transcontinental Railway , the Prince Edward Island Railway , and the Hudson...
(CGR). On December 20, 1918, a
Privy CouncilThe Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
orderAn Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, typically those in the Commonwealth of Nations. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the Queen by the Privy Council , but in other countries the terminology may vary.-Assent:Although the Orders are...
directed CNoR and CGR to be managed under the moniker
Canadian National RailwayThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
(CNR) as a means to simplify funding and operations, although CNoR and CGR would not be formally merged and cease corporate existence until January 20, 1923, the date that CNR was formally consolidated.
Significant portions of the old CNoR system survive under
CNThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
(as the CNR has been known since 1960); for example:
- the Mount Royal Tunnel
The Mount Royal Tunnel is a railway tunnel located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It connects the city's Gare Centrale/Central Station, located downtown, with the north side of the Island of Montreal and Laval, passing through Mount Royal. Since 1995, the only trains using the tunnel are commuter...
and suburban line to Deux-Montagnes, QuebecDeux-Montagnes is a municipality in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the north shore of the Rivière des Mille Îles where it flows out of Lake of Two Mountains...
- the line from Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
(Pointe-aux-TremblesPointe-aux-Trembles was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization of districts and municipalities as boroughs....
) northeast to Saguenay, QuebecSaguenay is a city in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada, on the Saguenay River, about north of Quebec City....
- the CN main line north and west from Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to Longlac, Ontario, about 900 km east of WinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
- the CN main line from the Yellowhead Pass
The Yellowhead Pass is a mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies. It is located on the border between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and lies within Jasper National Park and Mount Robson Provincial Park....
southwest to VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
.
The majority of CN's former CNoR branchline network across Canada has either been abandoned or sold to shortline operators. An important U.S. subsidiary of CNoR, the
Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific RailwayThe Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway is a subsidiary railroad of Canadian National Railway operating in northern Minnesota, United States. A CN system-wide rebranding beginning in 1995 has seen the DWP logo and name largely replaced by its parent company...
, forms part of a key CN connection between
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and
WinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
.