The
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), formerly also known as
CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, 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...
Class I railwayA Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...
founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001. Headquartered in
CalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
,
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...
, it owns approximately 14000 mile route miles of track all across Canada and into the United States, stretching from
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...
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,...
, and as far north as
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...
. Its rail network also serves major cities in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, such as
MinneapolisMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
,
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
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The
railwayRail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
was originally built between eastern Canada and
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...
between 1881 and 1885, (connecting with
Ottawa ValleyThe Ottawa Valley is the valley along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec along the Ottawa River. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield...
and
Georgian BayGeorgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...
area lines built earlier), fulfilling a promise extended to British Columbia when it entered
ConfederationCanadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
in 1871. It was Canada's first
transcontinental railwayA transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
, but currently does not reach the Atlantic coast. Primarily a freight railway, the CPR was for decades the only practical means of long-distance passenger
transportTransport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
in most regions of Canada, and was instrumental in the settlement and
developmentEconomic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policymakers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area...
of
Western CanadaWestern Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
. The CP became one of the largest and most powerful companies in Canada, a position it held as late as 1975. Its primary passenger services were eliminated in 1986, after being assumed by
Via Rail CanadaVia Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
in 1978. A
beaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
was chosen as the railway's logo because it is one of the national symbols of Canada and represents the hardworking character of the company. The object of both praise and condemnation for over 120 years, the CPR remains an indisputable icon of
Canadian nationalismCanadian nationalism is a term which has been applied to ideologies of several different types which highlight and promote specifically Canadian interests over those of other countries, notably the United States...
.
The company acquired two American lines in 2009: the
Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern RailroadThe Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is a Class II railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States...
and the
Iowa, Chicago and Eastern RailroadThe Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad was a Class II railroad operating in the north central United States. It has been controlled by the Canadian Pacific Railway and operated as a part of its system since October 30, 2008...
. The trackage of the
ICEThe Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad was a Class II railroad operating in the north central United States. It has been controlled by the Canadian Pacific Railway and operated as a part of its system since October 30, 2008...
was at one time part of CP subsidiary
Soo LineThe Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...
and predecessor line The Milwaukee Road. The combined
DMEThe Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is a Class II railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States...
/
ICEThe Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad was a Class II railroad operating in the north central United States. It has been controlled by the Canadian Pacific Railway and operated as a part of its system since October 30, 2008...
system spanned
North DakotaNorth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
,
South DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
,
NebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
,
WisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and
IowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, as well as two short stretches into two other states, which included a line to
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, and a line to Chicago, Illinois, and regulatory approval to build a line into the
Powder River BasinThe Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
of
WyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
.
The Canadian Pacific Railway is a public company with over 15,000 employees and market capitalization of US $7 billion in 2008. It is publicly traded on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CP.
History
Creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway was a task originally undertaken for a combination of reasons by the
ConservativeThe Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
government of
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Sir John A. MacdonaldSir John Alexander Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC, PC , QC was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, his political career spanned almost half a century...
.
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...
had insisted upon a transport link to the east as a condition for joining the
ConfederationCanadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
of
CanadaCanada 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...
(initially requesting a wagon road). The government however, proposed to build a railway linking the
PacificThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
province to the eastern provinces within 10 years of July 20, 1871. Macdonald also saw it as essential to the creation of a unified Canadian nation that would stretch across the continent. Moreover,
manufacturingManufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
interests in
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....
and
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....
desired access to sources of
raw materialA raw material or feedstock is the basic material from which a product is manufactured or made, frequently used with an extended meaning. For example, the term is used to denote material that came from nature and is in an unprocessed or minimally processed state. Latex, iron ore, logs, and crude...
s and
marketA market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
s in
Canada's westWestern Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
.
The first obstacle to its construction was economic. The logical route went through the American Midwest and the city of
Chicago, IllinoisChicago 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...
. In addition to this was the difficulty of building a railroad through the
Canadian RockiesThe Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
, an entirely Canadian route would require crossing 1600 km (994.2 mi) of rugged terrain of the barren
Canadian ShieldThe Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
and
muskegMuskeg is an acidic soil type common in Arctic and boreal areas, although it is found in other northern climates as well. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland but muskeg is the standard term in Western Canada and Alaska, while 'bog' is common elsewhere. The term is of Cree origin, maskek...
of
Northern OntarioNorthern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
. To ensure this routing, the government offered huge incentives including vast grants of land in Western Canada.
In 1872, Sir John A. Macdonald and other high-ranking politicians, bribed in the
Pacific ScandalThe Pacific Scandal was a political scandal in Canada involving allegations of bribes being accepted by the Conservative government in the attempts of private interests to influence the bidding for a national rail contract...
, granted federal contracts to
Hugh AllanSir Hugh Allan, KCMG was a Scottish-born Canadian shipping magnate, railway promoter, financier and capitalist...
's "Canada Pacific Railway Company" (which was unrelated to the current company) and to the Inter-Ocean Railway Company. Because of this scandal, the Conservative party was removed from office in 1873. The new
LiberalThe Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
prime minister,
Alexander MackenzieAlexander Mackenzie, PC , a building contractor and newspaper editor, was the second Prime Minister of Canada from November 7, 1873 to October 8, 1878.-Biography:...
, began construction of segments of the railway as a public enterprise under the supervision of the Department of Public Works. The
Thunder BayThunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district seat is Thunder Bay....
branch linking
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...
to Winnipeg, was commenced in 1875. Progress was discouragingly slow because of the lack of public money. With Sir John A. Macdonald's return to power on October 16, 1878, a more aggressive construction policy was adopted. Macdonald confirmed that
Port MoodyPort Moody is a small, crescent-shaped city in Metro Vancouver, located at the east end of Burrard Inlet in British Columbia, Canada. Port Moody is the smallest of the Tri-Cities, bordered by Coquitlam on the east and south, and Burnaby on the west. The villages of Belcarra and Anmore, along with...
would be the terminus of the transcontinental railway, and announced that the railway would follow the
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...
and
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...
rivers between Port Moody and
KamloopsKamloops is a city in south central British Columbia, at the confluence of the two branches of the Thompson River and near Kamloops Lake. It is the largest community in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the location of the regional district's offices. The surrounding region is more commonly...
. In 1879, the federal government floated bonds in London and called for tenders to construct the 206 km (128 mi) section of the railway from
Yale, British ColumbiaYale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...
, to Savona's Ferry, on
Kamloops LakeKamloops Lake in British Columbia, Canada is situated on the Thompson River just west of Kamloops. The lake is 1.6 km wide, 29 km long, and up to 152 m deep...
. The contract was awarded to
Andrew OnderdonkAndrew Onderdonk was a construction contractor who worked on several major projects including the San Francisco seawall in California and the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia. He was born on August 30, 1848 in New York to an established Dutch family. He received his education at the...
, whose men started work on May 15, 1880. After the completion of that section, Onderdonk received contracts to build between Yale and Port Moody, and between Savona's Ferry and Eagle Pass.
On October 21, 1880, a new syndicate, unrelated to Hugh Allan's, signed a contract with the Macdonald government. They agreed to build the railway in exchange for
$The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
25 million (approximately $625 million in modern Canadian dollars) in credit from the Canadian government and a grant of 25 million acres (100,000 km
2) of land. The government transferred to the new company those sections of the railway it had constructed under government ownership. The government also defrayed surveying costs and exempted the railway from property taxes for 20 years. The Montreal-based syndicate officially comprised five men:
George StephenGeorge Stephen, 1st Baron of Mount Stephen , known as Sir Stephen, between 1778 and 1891.-Canadian Pacific Railway syndicate:...
,
James J. HillJames Jerome Hill , was a Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest...
, Duncan McIntyre,
Richard B. AngusRichard Bladworth Angus was a Scottish-Canadian financier, banker and philanthropist.- Early life :Angus was born at Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland. Educated at Bathgate Academy, as a young man he was employed by the Manchester and Liverpool Bank. By 1857 he had secured a position with the Bank...
and
John Stewart KennedyJohn Stewart Kennedy was an American capitalist and philanthropist.-Biography:He was born near Glasgow in Scotland, received a scant education in school, studied in his spare moments as a clerk, and at 20 was sent to America by a London iron firm, in whose branch house in Glasgow he worked for...
. Donald A. Smith and
Norman KittsonNorman Wolfred Kittson was variously a fur trader, steamboat-line operator, and railway entrepreneur.-Fur trader:...
were unofficial silent partners with a significant financial interest. On February 15, 1881, legislation confirming the contract received
royal assentThe granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
, and the
Canadian Pacific Railway CompanyCanadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, a transportation and mining giant in Canada...
was formally
incorporatedIncorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
the next day.
Building the railway, 1881–1885
The Canadian Pacific Railway began its westward expansion from
Bonfield, OntarioBonfield is a township in northeastern Ontario, Canada, on the Mattawa River in Nipissing District.The township comprises the communities of Blanchard's Landing, Bonfield, Grand Desert, and Rutherglen...
(previously called Callander Station) where the first spike was driven into a sunken railway tie. Bonfield was inducted into Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in 2002 as the CPR First Spike location. That was the point where the
Canada Central Railway extension ended. The CCR was owned by Duncan McIntyre who amalgamated it with the CPR and became one of the handful of officers of the newly formed CPR. The CCR started in Brockville and extended to Pembroke. It then followed a westward route along the Ottawa River passing through places like Cobden, Deux-Rivières, and eventually to Mattawa at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa Rivers. It then proceeded cross-country towards its final destination Bonfield (previously called Callander Station). Duncan McIntyre and his contractor James Worthington piloted the CPR expansion. Worthington continued on as the construction superintendent for the CPR past Bonfield. He remained with the CPR for about a year until he left the company. McIntyre was uncle to John Ferguson who staked out future North Bay after getting assurance from his uncle and Worthington that it would be the divisional and a location of some importance.
It was assumed that the railway would travel through the rich "Fertile Belt" of the
North Saskatchewan RiverThe North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows east from the Canadian Rockies to central Saskatchewan. It is one of two major rivers that join to make up the Saskatchewan River....
valley and cross the
Rocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
via the
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....
, a route suggested by Sir Sandford Fleming based on a decade of work. However, the CPR quickly discarded this plan in favour of a more southerly route across the arid
Palliser's TrianglePalliser's Triangle, or the Palliser Triangle, is a largely semi-arid steppe region in the Prairie Provinces of Western Canada that was determined to be unsuitable for agriculture because of its unfavourable climate. The soil in this area is dark brown or black in color and is very nutrient-rich....
in
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
and via
Kicking Horse PassKicking Horse Pass is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta/British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff National Parks...
and down the
Field HillField Hill is a steep portion of the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway located near Field, British Columbia. Field was created solely to accommodate the Canadian Pacific Railway's need for additional locomotives to be added to trains about to tackle both Field Hill, and the Big Hill. Here a...
to the
Rocky Mountain TrenchThe Rocky Mountain Trench, or the Trench or The Valley of a Thousand Peaks, is a large valley in the northern part of the Rocky Mountains. It is both visually and cartographically a striking physiographic feature extending approximately from Flathead Lake, Montana, to the Liard River, just south...
. This route was more direct and closer to the American border, making it easier for the CPR to keep American railways from encroaching on the Canadian market. However, this route also had several disadvantages.
One consequence was that the CPR would need to find a route through the
Selkirk MountainsThe Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia. They begin at Mica Peak near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and extend approximately 320 km north from the border. The range is bounded on its west,...
, as at the time it was not known whether a route even existed. The job of finding a pass was assigned to a
surveyorSee Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
named
MajorMajor is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Albert Bowman Rogers. The CPR promised him a
chequeA cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
for $5,000 and that the pass would be named in his honour. Rogers became obsessed with finding the pass that would immortalize his name. He discovered the pass in April 1881, and true to its word, the CPR named the pass "
Rogers PassRogers Pass is a high mountain pass through the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia used by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Trans-Canada Highway. The pass is a shortcut across the "Big Bend" of the Columbia River from Revelstoke on the west to Donald, near Golden, on the east...
" and gave him the cheque. This however, he at first refused to cash, preferring to frame it, and saying he did not do it for the money. He later agreed to cash it with the promise of an engraved watch.
Another obstacle was that the proposed route crossed land was controlled by the
BlackfootThe Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana....
First Nation. This difficulty was overcome when a
missionaryA missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
priestA priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
,
Albert LacombeAlbert Lacombe , commonly known in Alberta simply as Father Lacombe, was a French-Canadian Roman Catholic missionary who lived among and evangelized the Cree and Blackfoot First Nations of western Canada...
, persuaded the Blackfoot chief
CrowfootCrowfoot or Isapo-Muxika was a chief of the Siksika First Nation. His parents, Istowun-eh'pata and Axkahp-say-pi , were Kainai. His brother Iron Shield became Chief Bull...
that construction of the railway was inevitable. In return for his assent, Crowfoot was famously rewarded with a lifetime pass to ride the CPR. A more lasting consequence of the choice of route was that, unlike the one proposed by Fleming, the land surrounding the railway often proved too arid for successful
agricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. The CPR may have placed too much reliance on a report from
naturalistNatural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
John MacounJohn Macoun was an Irish-born Canadian naturalist.- Early life :Macoun was born in Magheralin, County Down, Ireland in 1831, the third child of James Macoun and Anne Jane Nevin. In 1850 the worsening economic situation in Ireland led his family to emigrate to Canada, where he settled in Seymour...
, who had crossed the
prairiePrairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
s at a time of very high rainfall and had reported that the area was fertile.
The greatest disadvantage of the route was in Kicking Horse Pass. In the first 6 km (3.7 mi) west of the 1,625 metre (5,330 ft) high summit, the
Kicking Horse RiverThe Kicking Horse River is a river located in the Canadian Rockies of southeastern British Columbia, Canada.The river was named in 1858, when James Hector, a member of the Palliser Expedition, was kicked by his packhorse while exploring the river. Hector survived and named the river and the...
drops 350 metres (1,150 ft). The steep drop would force the cash-strapped CPR to build a 7 km (4.3 mi) long stretch of track with a very steep 4.5 percent gradient once it reached the pass in 1884. This was over four times the maximum gradient recommended for railways of this era, and even modern railways rarely exceed a 2 percent gradient. However, this route was far more direct than one through the
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....
and saved hours for both passengers and freight. This section of track was the CPR's
Big HillThe Big Hill on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line in British Columbia, Canada, was the most difficult piece of railway track on the Canadian Pacific Railway's route. It was situated in the rugged Canadian Rockies west of the Continental Divide and Kicking Horse Pass...
. Safety switches were installed at several points, the speed limit for descending trains was set at 10 km per hour (6 mph), and special
locomotiveA locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s were ordered. Despite these measures, several serious runaways still occurred including the first locomotive to descend the line. CPR officials insisted that this was a temporary expediency, but this state of affairs would last for 25 years until the completion of the Spiral Tunnels in the early 20th century.
In 1881 construction progressed at a pace too slow for the railway's officials, who in 1882 hired the renowned railway executive
William Cornelius Van HorneSir William Cornelius Van Horne, KCMG was a pioneering Canadian railway executive.-Life and career:Born in 1843 in rural Illinois, he moved with his family to Joliet, Illinois when he was eight years old...
, to oversee construction with the inducement of a generous salary and the intriguing challenge of handling such a difficult railway project. Van Horne stated that he would have 800 km (497.1 mi) of main line built in 1882.
FloodA flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s delayed the start of the construction season, but over 672 km (417.6 mi) of main line, as well as various sidings and branch lines, were built that year. The Thunder Bay branch (west from
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...
) was completed in June 1882 by the Department of Railways and Canals and turned over to the company in May 1883, permitting all-Canadian lake and rail traffic from eastern Canada to Winnipeg, for the first time in Canada's history. By the end of 1883, the railway had reached the Rocky Mountains, just eight km (5 miles) east of Kicking Horse Pass. The construction seasons of 1884 and 1885 would be spent in the mountains of British Columbia and on the north shore of
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...
.
Many thousands of
navviesNavvy is a shorter form of navigator or navigational engineer and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects...
worked on the railway. Many were European immigrants. In British Columbia, the CPR hired workers from
ChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, called coolies. A navvy received between $1 and $2.50 per day, but had to pay for his own food, clothing, transportation to the job site, mail and medical care. After 2-1/2 months of back-breaking labour, they could net as little as $16. Chinese coolies in British Columbia made only between 75 cents and $1.25 a day, paid in rice mats, and not including expenses, leaving barely anything to send home. They did the most dangerous construction jobs, such as working with
explosivesAn explosive material, also called an explosive, is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure...
to clear tunnels through rock. The families of the Chinese who were killed received no compensation, or even notification of loss of life. Many of the men who survived did not have enough money to return to their families in China, although Chinese labour contractors had promised that as part of their responsibilities. Many spent years in lonely, sad and often poor conditions. Yet the Chinese were hard working and played a key role in building the western stretch of the railway; even some boys as young as 12 years old served as tea-boys. In 2006 the Canadian government issued a formal apology to the Chinese population in Canada for their treatment both during and following the construction of the CPR.
By 1883, railway construction was progressing rapidly, but the CPR was in danger of running out of funds. In response, on January 31, 1884, the government passed the Railway Relief Bill, providing a further $22.5 million in loans to the CPR. The bill received royal assent on March 6, 1884.
In March 1885, the
North-West RebellionThe North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada...
broke out in the
District of SaskatchewanThe District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's Northwest Territories. Much of the area was incorporated into the province of Saskatchewan. The western part became part of Alberta, and the eastern part is now part of Manitoba. Its capital was Prince Albert...
. Van Horne, in Ottawa at the time, suggested to the government that the CPR could transport troops to
Qu'AppelleQu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, is a small village and formerly in ecclesiastical terms a city, with considerable historic significance located on Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline, some east of the provincial capital of Regina.Qu'Appelle was for a time the terminus of the...
, Assiniboia, in 10 days. Some sections of track were incomplete or had not been used before, but the trip to Winnipeg was made in nine days and the rebellion was quickly put down. Perhaps because the government was grateful for this service, they subsequently re-organized the CPR's debt and provided a further $5 million loan. This money was desperately needed by the CPR. On November 7, 1885, the
Last SpikeThe Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway was the final spike driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, British Columbia at 9:22 am on November 7, 1885...
was driven at
Craigellachie, British ColumbiaCraigellachie is a locality in British Columbia, located several kilometres to the west of the Eagle Pass summit between Sicamous and Revelstoke...
, making good on the original promise. Four days earlier, the last spike of the Lake Superior section was driven in just west of
Jackfish, OntarioJackfish is a ghost town in northern Ontario, Canada, located on the north shore of Lake Superior east of Terrace Bay.The last spike on the Canadian Pacific Railway track between Montreal and Winnipeg was driven in west of Jackfish on May 16, 1885...
. While the railway was completed four years after the original 1881 deadline, it was completed more than five years ahead of the new date of 1891 that Macdonald gave in 1881.
The successful construction of such a massive project, although troubled by delays and scandal, was considered an impressive feat of engineering and political will for a country with such a small population, limited capital, and difficult terrain. It was by far the longest railway ever constructed at the time. It had taken 12,000 men, 5,000 horses and 300 dog-sled teams to build the railway.
Meanwhile, in Eastern Canada, the CPR had created a network of lines reaching from
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...
to
St. Thomas, OntarioSt. Thomas is a city in southern , Ontario, Canada. It is the seat for Elgin County and gained its city charter on March 4, 1881.-History:...
by 1885, and had launched a fleet of Great Lakes ships to link its terminals. The CPR had effected purchases and long-term
leasesLeasing is a process by which a firm can obtain the use of a certain fixed assets for which it must pay a series of contractual, periodic, tax deductible payments....
of several railways through an associated railway company, the
Ontario and Quebec RailwayThe Ontario and Quebec Railway is a historic Canadian railway located in eastern Ontario.The railway had received a charter in 1881 and the Canadian Pacific Railway gained control, building the O&Q line between Perth and Toronto...
(O&Q). The O&Q built a line between
Perth, OntarioPerth is a town in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, Canada . It is located on the Tay River, 83 km southwest of Ottawa, and is the seat of Lanark County.-History:...
, and
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...
(completed on May 5, 1884) to connect these acquisitions. The CPR obtained a 999-year lease on the O&Q on January 4, 1884. Later, in 1895, it acquired a minority interest in the
Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo RailwayThe Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway was a railway based in Hamilton that ran in Southern Ontario from 1894 to 1987. It never reached the other two cities in its name, although it did have branch lines extending to Dunnville and Port Maitland.-History:...
, giving it a link to New York and the northeast United States.
1886–1900
So many cost-cutting shortcuts were taken in constructing the railway that regular transcontinental service could not start for another seven months while work was done to improve the railway's condition (part of this was due to snow in the mountains and lack of snowsheds to keep the line open). However, had these shortcuts not been taken, it is conceivable that the CPR might have had to default financially, leaving the railway unfinished. The first transcontinental passenger train departed from Montreal's
Dalhousie StationDalhousie Station is a former railway station in Montreal. Built in 1884, it still stands at the corner of Rue Notre-Dame Est and Rue Berri in east end Montreal...
, located at Berri Street and Notre Dame Street at 8 p.m. on June 28, 1886, and arrived at Port Moody at noon on July 4, 1886. This train consisted of two baggage cars, a mail car, one second-class coach, two immigrant sleepers, two first-class coaches, two sleeping cars and a diner (several dining cars were used throughout the journey, as they were removed from the train during the night, and another one was picked in the morning).
By that time, however, the CPR had decided to move its western terminus from Port Moody to
GastownGastown is a national historic site in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the northeast end of Downtown adjacent to the Downtown Eastside. Its historical boundaries were the waterfront , Columbia Street, Hastings Street, and Cambie Street, which were the borders of the 1870 townsite survey, the proper...
, which was renamed "Vancouver" later that year. The first official train destined for Vancouver arrived on May 23, 1887, although the line had already been in use for three months. The CPR quickly became profitable, and all loans from the Federal government were repaid years ahead of time.
In 1888, a branch line was opened between Sudbury and
Sault Ste. MarieSault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
where the CPR connected with the American railway system and its own steamships. That same year, work was started on a line from
London, OntarioLondon is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, to the American border at
Windsor, OntarioWindsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
. That line opened on June 12, 1890.
The CPR also leased the
New Brunswick RailwayThe New Brunswick Railway was a historic Canadian railway operating in western New Brunswick. Its headquarters were in Woodstock.The original NBR lines were built to the narrow gauge of...
in 1890 for 990 years, and built the International Railway of Maine, connecting Montreal with
Saint John, New BrunswickCity of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
, in 1889. The connection with Saint John on the Atlantic coast made the CPR the first truly transcontinental railway company in Canada and permitted trans-Atlantic cargo and passenger services to continue year-round when
sea iceSea ice is largely formed from seawater that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs below the freezing point of pure water, at about -1.8 °C ....
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence closed the port of Montreal during the winter months.
By 1896, competition with the Great Northern Railway for traffic in southern British Columbia forced the CPR to construct a second line across the province, south of the original line. Van Horne, now
presidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the CPR, asked for government aid, and the government agreed to provide around $3.6 million to construct a railway from
LethbridgeLethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...
,
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...
, through
Crowsnest PassCrowsnest Pass is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta/British Columbia border.-Geography:...
to the south shore of
Kootenay LakeKootenay Lake is a lake located in British Columbia, Canada and is part of theKootenay River. The lake has been raised by the Corra Linn Dam and has a dike system at the southern end, which, along with industry in the 1950s-70s, has changed the ecosystem in and around the water...
, in exchange for the CPR agreeing to reduce freight rates in perpetuity for key commodities shipped in Western Canada. The controversial Crowsnest Pass Agreement effectively locked the eastbound rate on
grainCereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
products and westbound rates on certain "settlers' effects" at the 1897 level. Although temporarily suspended during
World War IWorld 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...
, it was not until 1983 that the "
Crow RateThe "Crow Rate" or "Crow's Nest Freight Rate" was a rail transportation subsidy imposed on the Canadian Pacific Railway by the Canadian government, benefiting farmers on the Canadian Prairies and manufacturers in central Canada.-Origin:...
" was permanently replaced by the Western Grain Transportation Act which allowed for the gradual increase of grain shipping prices. The Crowsnest Pass line opened on June 18, 1899, and followed a complicated route through the maze of valleys and passes in southern British Columbia, rejoining the original mainline at
HopeHope is a district municipality located at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon...
after crossing the Cascade Mountains via
Coquihalla PassCoquihalla Summit is a highway summit along the Coquihalla Highway in British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point on the highway between the cities of Hope and Merritt...
.
The Southern Mainline, generally known as the
Kettle Valley RailwayThe Kettle Valley Railroad was a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway that operated in the Thompson-Okanagan region of southern British Columbia....
in British Columbia, was built in response to the booming mining and smelting economy in southern British Columbia, and the tendency of the local geography to encourage and enable easier access from neighbouring US states than from Vancouver or the rest of Canada, which was viewed to be as much of a threat to national security as it was to the province's control of its own resources. The main cross-country passenger service was re-routed to this new southerly line, which connected numerous emergent small cities across the region. Independent railways and subsidiaries that were eventually merged into the CPR in connection with this route were the Shuswap and Okanagan Railway, the
Kaslo and Slocan RailwayThe Kaslo and Slocan Railway was a narrow gauge gauge railway between Kaslo, Slocan, and the mining community of Sandon in the Kootenay region of British Columbia between 1895 and 1955 totalling about of track...
, the
Columbia and Kootenay RailwayThe Columbia and Kootenay Railway was a historic railway in the Interior of British Columbia between Nelson on Kootenay Lake and Robson at the confluence of the Kootenay River and the Columbia River near Castlegar operated as part of the Canadian Pacific Railway.-History pre-1900:The railway was...
, the
Columbia and Western RailwayThe Columbia and Western Railway was a historic Canadian narrow gauge railway located in southern British Columbia.Constructed in 1896, its route connected silver and gold mines at Red Mountain and Rossland and a smelter at Trail...
and various others.
The CPR and the settlement of Western Canada
Practically speaking, the CPR had built a railway that operated mostly in the wilderness. The usefulness of the Prairies was questionable in the minds of many. The thinking prevailed that the Prairies had great potential. Under the initial contract with the Canadian Government to build the railway, the CPR was granted 25 million acres (100,000 km
2). Proving already to be a very resourceful organization, Canadian Pacific began an intense campaign to bring immigrants to Canada.
Canadian Pacific agents operated in many overseas locations. Immigrants were often sold a package that included passage on a CP ship, travel on a CP train, and land sold by the CP railway. Land was priced at $2.50 an acre and up. Immigrants paid very little for a seven-day journey to the West. They rode in Colonist cars that had sleeping facilities and a small kitchen at one end of the car. Children were not allowed off the train, lest they wander off and be left behind. The directors of the CPR knew that not only were they creating a nation, but also a long-term source of revenue for their company.
1901–1928
During the first decade of the 20th century, the CPR continued to build more lines. In 1908 the CPR opened a line connecting Toronto with Sudbury. Previously, westbound traffic originating 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...
took a circuitous route through
eastern OntarioEastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...
.
Several operational improvements were also made to the railway in
Western CanadaWestern Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
. In 1909 the CPR completed two significant
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
accomplishments. The most significant was the replacement of the Big Hill, which had become a major bottleneck in the CPR's main line, with the
Spiral TunnelsThe Big Hill on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line in British Columbia, Canada, was the most difficult piece of railway track on the Canadian Pacific Railway's route. It was situated in the rugged Canadian Rockies west of the Continental Divide and Kicking Horse Pass...
, reducing the grade to 2.2 percent from 4.5 percent. The Spiral Tunnels opened in August. On November 3, 1909, the
Lethbridge ViaductThe Lethbridge Viaduct, commonly known as the High Level Bridge, was constructed between 1907–1909 at Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada at a cost of $1,334,525.- Overview :...
over the
Oldman RiverThe Oldman River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows roughly west to east from the Rocky Mountains, through the communities of Fort Macleod, Lethbridge, Taber, and on to Grassy Lake, where it joins with the Bow River to form the South Saskatchewan River, which eventually drains into...
valley at
LethbridgeLethbridge is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada, and the largest city in southern Alberta. It is Alberta's fourth-largest city by population after Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer, and the third-largest by area after Calgary and Edmonton. The nearby Canadian Rockies contribute to the city's...
,
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...
, was opened. It is 1,624 metres (5,327 ft) long and, at its maximum, 96 metres (314 ft) high, making it the longest railway bridge in Canada. In 1916 the CPR replaced its line through
Rogers PassRogers Pass is a high mountain pass through the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia used by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Trans-Canada Highway. The pass is a shortcut across the "Big Bend" of the Columbia River from Revelstoke on the west to Donald, near Golden, on the east...
, which was prone to
avalancheAn avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
s (the
most serious of whichThe 1910 Rogers Pass Avalanche was an avalanche which killed 62 men clearing a railroad line near the summit of Rogers Pass through the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia on March 4, 1910...
killed 62 men in 1910) with the
Connaught TunnelConnaught Tunnel, in the Selkirk Mountains under Rogers Pass on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line between Calgary, Alberta, and Revelstoke, British Columbia, at long was, at the time it was built, the longest railway tunnel in North America. Dug under Mount Macdonald to ease growing traffic...
, an eight km (5 mile) long tunnel under
Mount MacdonaldMount Macdonald is a mountain peak located in the Selkirk mountains of British Columbia, Canada, immediately to the east of Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park. It is notable as the location of the Canadian Pacific Railway's Connaught and Mount Macdonald Tunnels. At 14.7 km, the Mount...
that was, at the time of its opening, the longest railway tunnel in the
Western HemisphereThe Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
.
The CPR acquired several smaller railways via long-term leases in 1912. On January 3, 1912, the CPR acquired the
Dominion Atlantic RailwayThe Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
, a railway that ran in western
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...
. This acquisition gave the CPR a connection to
HalifaxHalifax Regional Municipality is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The Regional Municipality had a 2006 census population of 372,679, while the metropolitan area had a 2010 estimated population of 403,188, and the urban area of Halifax had a population of 282,924...
, a significant port on the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. The Dominion Atlantic was isolated from the rest of the CPR network and used the CNR to facilitate interchange; the DAR also operated ferry services across the
Bay of FundyThe Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
for passengers and cargo (but not rail cars) from the port of
Digby, Nova ScotiaDigby is a Canadian town in western Nova Scotia. It is the shiretown and largest population centre in Digby County.The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Basin near the entrance to the Digby Gut which connects the basin to the Bay of Fundy.Named after Admiral Robert Digby, RN,...
, to the CPR at
Saint John, New BrunswickCity of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
. DAR steamships also provided connections for passengers and cargo between
YarmouthYarmouth is a town and fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Yarmouth County. The town is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.- History :The townsite may...
,
BostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
On July 1, 1912, the CPR acquired the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, a railway 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...
that connected to the CPR using a railcar ferry. The CPR also acquired the
Quebec Central RailwayThe Quebec Central Railway was a railway in the Canadian province of Quebec, that served the area of Quebec called the Eastern Townships, south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships and Kennebec...
on December 14, 1912.
During the late 19th century, the railway undertook an ambitious program of hotel construction, building the
Château FrontenacThe Château Frontenac, currently known as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, is a grand hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980...
in
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...
, the
Royal York HotelThe Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
in Toronto, the
Banff Springs HotelThe Fairmont Banff Springs or simply the Banff Springs Hotel is a former railway hotel constructed in Scottish Baronial style located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The original hotel, designed by American architect Bruce Price, was built between spring of 1887 and 1888 by the Canadian...
, and several other major Canadian landmarks. By then, the CPR had competition from three other transcontinental lines, all of them money-losers. In 1919, these lines were consolidated, along with the track of the old Intercolonial Railway and its spurs, into the government-owned Canadian National Railways.
The CPR suffered its greatest loss of life when one of its steamships, the
Empress of IrelandRMS Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner built in 1905 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships...
, sank after a collision with the Norwegian collier
SS Storstad. On 29 May 1914, the
Empress (operated by the CPR's
Canadian Pacific Steamship CompanyCP Ships was a large Canadian container shipping company, prior to being taken over by Hapag Lloyd in late 2005. CP Ships had its head office in the City of Westminster in London and later in the City Place Gatwick development on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex.The...
, went down in the St. Lawrence River on 29 May 1914 with the loss of 1,024 lives, of which 840 were passengers.
When
World War IWorld 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...
broke out in 1914, the CPR devoted resources to the war effort, and managed to stay profitable while its competitors struggled to remain solvent. After the war, the Federal government created
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"....
s (CNR, later CN) out of several bankrupt railways that fell into government hands during and after the war. CNR would become the main competitor to the CPR in Canada.
The Great Depression and World War II, 1929–1945
The
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, which lasted from 1929 until 1939, hit many companies heavily. While the CPR was affected, it was not affected to the extent of its rival CNR because it, unlike the CNR, was debt-free. The CPR scaled back on some of its passenger and freight services, and stopped issuing dividends to its shareholders after 1932.
Hard times led to the creation of new political parties such as the
Social Credit movementThe Canadian social credit movement was a Canadian political movement originally based on the Social Credit theory of Major C. H. Douglas. Its supporters were colloquially known as Socreds...
and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, as well as popular protest in the form of the
On-to-Ottawa TrekThe On-to-Ottawa Trek was a long journey where thousands of people had unemployed men protesting the dismal conditions in federal relief camps scattered in remote areas across Western Canada. The men lived and worked in these camps at a rate of twenty cents per day before walking out on strike in...
.
One highlight of the 1930s, both for the railway and for Canada, was the visit of
King George VIGeorge VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and
Queen ElizabethElizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
during their
1939 royal tour of CanadaThe 1939 royal tour of Canada was a cross-Canada royal tour by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. It was the first visit of a reigning monarch to Canada. It began May 17, 1939 and saw the royal couple visit every Canadian province as well as the United States and the Dominion of Newfoundland...
, the first time that the reigning monarch had visited the country. The CPR and the CNR shared the honours of pulling the royal train across the country, with the CPR undertaking the westbound journey from Quebec City to Vancouver.
Later that year,
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began. As it had done in
World War IWorld 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...
, the CPR devoted much of its resources to the war effort. It retooled its Angus Shops in Montreal to produce
Valentine tankThe Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in 11 different marks plus various purpose-built variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production...
s, and transported troops and resources across the country. As well, 22 of the CPR's ships went to war, 12 of which were sunk.
1946–1978
After World War II, the transportation industry in
CanadaCanada 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...
changed. Where railways had previously provided almost universal freight and passenger services,
carsAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
,
truckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s, and
airplanesA fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
started to take traffic away from railways. This naturally helped the CPR's air and trucking operations, and the railway's freight operations continued to thrive hauling resource traffic and bulk commodities. However, passenger trains quickly became unprofitable.
During the 1950s, the railway introduced new innovations in passenger service, and in 1955 introduced
The CanadianThe Canadian is a Canadian transcontinental passenger train originally operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway between 1955 and 1978. It is currently operated as an Inter-city rail service by Via Rail Canada with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario and Pacific Central Station in...
, a new luxury transcontinental train. However, starting in the 1960s the company started to pull out of passenger services, ending services on many of its branch lines. It also discontinued its secondary transcontinental train
The Dominion in 1966, and in 1970 unsuccessfully applied to discontinue
The Canadian. For the next eight years, it continued to apply to discontinue the service, and service on
The Canadian declined markedly. On October 29, 1978, CP Rail transferred its passenger services to
Via RailVia Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
, a new federal Crown corporation that is responsible for managing all intercity passenger service formerly handled by both CP Rail and CN. Via eventually took almost all of its passenger trains, including
The Canadian, off CP's lines.
In 1968, as part of a corporate re-organization, each of the CPR's major operations, including its rail operations, were organized as separate subsidiaries. The name of the railway was changed to CP Rail, and the parent company changed its name to
Canadian Pacific LimitedCanadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, a transportation and mining giant in Canada...
in 1971. Its express, telecommunications, hotel and real estate holdings were spun off, and ownership of all of the companies transferred to Canadian Pacific Investments. The company discarded its beaver logo, adopting the new
MultimarkThe Multimark was introduced by Canadian Pacific Railway on July 17, 1968 to identify each of its various operations.- Composition :Each operation was assigned a different colour while taking on a new identity...
logo that could be used for each of its operations.
1979–present
In 1984 CP Rail commenced construction of the
Mount Macdonald TunnelThe Mount Macdonald Tunnel, located in the vicinity of Rogers Pass in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, is a railway tunnel constructed through Mount Macdonald by the Canadian Pacific Railway ....
to augment the
Connaught TunnelConnaught Tunnel, in the Selkirk Mountains under Rogers Pass on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line between Calgary, Alberta, and Revelstoke, British Columbia, at long was, at the time it was built, the longest railway tunnel in North America. Dug under Mount Macdonald to ease growing traffic...
under the
Selkirk MountainsThe Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia. They begin at Mica Peak near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and extend approximately 320 km north from the border. The range is bounded on its west,...
. The first revenue train passed through the tunnel in 1988. At 14.7 km (nine miles), it is the longest tunnel in the
AmericasThe Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
.
During the 1980s, the
Soo Line RailroadThe Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , controlled through the Soo Line Corporation, and one of seven U.S. Class I railroads. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste...
, in which CP Rail still owned a controlling interest, underwent several changes. It acquired the
Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern RailwayThe Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway was an long American short line railroad connecting Minneapolis and Northfield, Minnesota. It was incorporated in 1918 to take over the trackage of the former Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company, also known as...
in 1982. Then on February 21, 1985, the Soo Line obtained a controlling interest in the Milwaukee Road, merging it into its system on January 1, 1986. Also in 1980 Canadian Pacific bought out the controlling interests of the
Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo RailwayThe Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway was a railway based in Hamilton that ran in Southern Ontario from 1894 to 1987. It never reached the other two cities in its name, although it did have branch lines extending to Dunnville and Port Maitland.-History:...
(TH&B) from Conrail and molded it into the Canadian Pacific System, dissolving the TH&B's name from the books in 1985. In 1987 most of CPR's trackage in 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...
region, including much of the original Soo Line, were spun off into a new railway, the Wisconsin Central, which was subsequently purchased by
CNThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
. Influenced by the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1989 which liberalized
tradeTrade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
between the two nations, the CPR's expansion continued during the early 1990s: CP Rail gained full control of the Soo Line in 1990, and bought the
Delaware and Hudson RailwayThe Delaware and Hudson Railway is a railroad that operates in the northeastern United States. Since 1991 it has been a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, although CPR has assumed all operations and the D&H does not maintain any locomotives or rolling stock.It was formerly an important...
in 1991. These two acquisitions gave CP Rail routes to the major American cities of Chicago (via the Soo Line) and New York City (via the D&H).
During the next few years CP Rail downsized its route, and several Canadian
branch lineA branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
s and even some secondary mainlines were either sold to short lines or abandoned. This rationalization, however, came at a price, as many grain elevators in the region known as
CanadaCanada 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...
's
BreadbasketThe breadbasket or the granary of a country is a region which, because of richness of soil and/or advantageous climate, produces an agricultural surplus which is often considered vital for the country as a whole. Rice bowl is a similar term used in Southeast Asia...
shut down due to not being able to distribute their thousands of bushels of grain through a large enough region. This included all of its lines east of Montreal, with the routes operating across Maine and New Brunswick to the port of Saint John (operating as the
Canadian Atlantic RailwayThe Canadian Atlantic Railway is a historic Canadian and U.S. railway that existed from 1988 to 1994.The CAR was created in September 1988 as a business unit of CP Rail System to serve the Maritime Provinces and state of Maine...
) being sold or abandoned, severing CPR's transcontinental status (in Canada); the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the late 1950s, coupled with subsidized icebreaking services, made Saint John surplus to CPR's requirements. During the 1990s, both CP Rail and CN attempted unsuccessfully to buy out the eastern assets of the other, so as to permit further rationalization. As well, it closed divisional and regional offices, drastically reduced white collar staff, and consolidated its Canadian traffic control system in Calgary, Alberta.
Finally, in 1996, reflecting the increased importance of western traffic to the railway, CP Rail moved its head office to Calgary from Montreal and changed its name back to Canadian Pacific Railway. A new
subsidiaryA subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
company, the
St. Lawrence and Hudson RailwayThe St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway.The SL&H arose out of a corporate reorganization at CPR that was announced on November 21, 1995...
, was created to operate its money-losing lines in eastern North America, covering
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....
, Southern and
Eastern OntarioEastern Ontario is a subregion of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River...
, trackage rights to
Chicago, IllinoisChicago 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...
, as well as the
Delaware and Hudson RailwayThe Delaware and Hudson Railway is a railroad that operates in the northeastern United States. Since 1991 it has been a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, although CPR has assumed all operations and the D&H does not maintain any locomotives or rolling stock.It was formerly an important...
in the U.S. Northeast. However, the new subsidiary, threatened with being sold off and free to innovate, quickly spun off losing track to short lines, instituted scheduled freight service, and produced an unexpected turn-around in profitability. After only four years, CPR revised its opinion and the StL&H formally re-amalgamated with its parent on January 1, 2001.
In 2001, the CPR's parent company,
Canadian Pacific LimitedCanadian Pacific Limited was created in 1971 to own properties formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, a transportation and mining giant in Canada...
, spun off its five subsidiaries, including the CPR, into independent companies. Canadian Pacific Railway formally (but, not legally) shortened its name to Canadian Pacific in early 2007, dropping the word "railway" in order to reflect more operational flexibility. Shortly after the name revision, Canadian Pacific announced that it had committed to becoming a major sponsor and logistics provider to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.
On September 4, 2007, CPR announced it was acquiring the
Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern RailroadThe Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad is a Class II railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States...
from its present owners, London-based
Electra Private EquityElectra Private Equity is a British-based investment trust specialising in private equity. The trust is managed by Electra Partners LLP an independent private equity fund manager and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
. The transaction is an "end-to-end" consolidation, and will give CPR access to U.S. shippers of agricultural products, ethanol, and coal. CPR has stated its intention to use this purchase to gain access to the rich coal fields of
WyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
's
Powder River BasinThe Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
. The purchase price is US$1.48 billion, and future payments of over US$1 billion contingent on commencement of construction on the smaller railroad's Powder River extension and specified volumes of coal shipments from the Powder River basin. The transaction was subject to approval of the U.S.
Surface Transportation BoardThe Surface Transportation Board of the United States is a bipartisan, decisionally-independent adjudicatory body organizationally housed within the U.S. Department of Transportation. The STB was established in 1996 to assume some of the regulatory functions that had been administered by the...
(STB), which was expected to take a year. On October 4, 2007, CPR announced it has completed the financial transactions required for the acquisition, placing the DM&E and IC&E in a voting trust with Richard Hamlin appointed as the trustee. CPR planned to integrate the railroads' operations once the STB approves the acquisition. The merger was completed as of October 31, 2008.
Freight trains
Over half of CP's freight traffic is in
coalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, grain, and
intermodalIntermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
freight, and the vast majority of its profits are made in western Canada. A major shift in trade from the Atlantic to the Pacific has caused serious drops in CPR's wheat shipments through
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...
. It also ships automotive parts and assembled automobiles, sulphur,
fertilizerFertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
s, other chemicals, forest products, and other types of commodities. The busiest part of its railway network is along its main line between Calgary and Vancouver.
Since 1970, coal has become a major commodity hauled by CPR. Coal is shipped in
unit trainA unit train, also called a block train, is a railway train in which all the cars making it up are shipped from the same origin to the same destination, without being split up or stored en route...
s from coal mines in the mountains, most notably
Sparwood, British Columbia-Newspapers:* Fernie Free Press - Weekly Paper* Elk Valley Herald - Weekly Paper* Kootenay News Advertiser - Weekly Paper* The Valley - Weekly Paper* Fernie Fix - Monthly Glossy Magazine* Black Rock News - Semimonthly-Radio stations:...
to terminals at Roberts Bank and
North VancouverThere are two municipalities in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada, that use the name North Vancouver. These are:*The City of North Vancouver...
, from where it is then shipped to
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The CPR hauls over 34 million tons of coal to the west coast each year, mainly for export to Japan.
Grain is hauled by the CPR from the prairies to ports at Thunder Bay (the former cities of
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...
and
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 :...
), Quebec City and Vancouver, where it is then shipped overseas. The traditional winter export port was West Saint John, New Brunswick when ice closed the St. Lawrence River. Grain has always been a significant commodity hauled by the CPR; between 1905 and 1909, the CPR double-tracked its section of track between
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...
(Which is today part of the city of
Thunder BayThunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario, and the second most populous in Northern Ontario after Greater Sudbury...
) and Winnipeg to facilitate grain shipments. For several decades this was the only long stretch of double-track mainline outside of urban areas on the CPR. Today, though the Thunder Bay-Winnipeg section is now single tracked, the CPR still has two long distance double track lines serving rural areas, including a 75 miles (120.7 km) stretch between
Kent, British ColumbiaThe District of Kent is a district municipality located east of Vancouver, British Columbia. Part of the Fraser Valley Regional District, Kent consists of several communities, the largest and most well-known being Agassiz, the only town in the municipality, Harrison Mills, Kilby, Mount Woodside,...
and Vancouver which follows the
Fraser RiverThe 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...
into the western part of the
Canadian RockiesThe Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
, as well as the Canadian Pacific Winchester Sub, a 100 miles (160.9 km) stretch of double track mainline which runs from
Smiths Falls, OntarioSmiths Falls is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is in the census division for Lanark County, but is considered a separated town and does not participate in county government...
through downtown Montreal which runs through many rural farming communities. There are also various long stretches of double track between
GoldenGolden is a town in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, located west of Calgary, Alberta and east of Vancouver.-History:Much of the town's history is tied into the Canadian Pacific Railway and the logging industry...
and
KamloopsKamloops is a city in south central British Columbia, at the confluence of the two branches of the Thompson River and near Kamloops Lake. It is the largest community in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the location of the regional district's offices. The surrounding region is more commonly...
,
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...
and portions of the original Winnipeg-Thunder Bay double track (such as 20 miles through
KenoraKenora , originally named Rat Portage, is a small city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg...
and Keewatin,
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....
) are still double track.
In 1952, the CPR became the first North American railway to introduce
intermodalIntermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
or "piggyback" freight service, where truck trailers are carried on flat cars. Containers later replaced most piggyback service. In 1996, the CPR introduced a scheduled reservation-only short-haul intermodal service between Montreal and West Toronto called the
Iron Highway; it utilized unique equipment that was later replaced (1999) by conventional piggyback flatcars and renamed
Expressway. This service was extended to Detroit with plans to reach Chicago however CP was unable to locate a suitable terminal. Loss of the small Detroit terminal and low US traffic along with loss of the Chrysler Windsor traffic it was later cut back to Milton, west of Toronto.
Passenger trains
The train was the primary mode of long-distance transportation in Canada until the 1960s. Among the many types of people who rode CPR trains were new immigrants heading for the prairies, military troops (especially during the two world wars) and upper class tourists. It also custom-built many of its passenger cars at its
CPR Angus ShopsThe CPR Angus Shops in Montreal were a railcar manufacturing, repairing and selling facility of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The most of its production consisted of passenger cars, freight cars and locomotives. Built in 1904, and named for founder, Richard B...
to be able to meet the demands of the upper class.
The CPR also had a line of Great Lakes ships integrated into its transcontinental service. From 1885 until 1912, these ships linked Owen Sound on Georgian Bay to Fort William. Following a major fire in December 1911 that destroyed the grain elevator, operations were relocated to a new, larger port created by the CPR at Port McNicoll opening in May 1912. Five ships allowed daily service, and included the S.S.
Assiniboia, and S.S.
Keewatin built in 1908 which remained in use until the end of service. Travellers went by train from Toronto to that Georgian Bay port, then travelled by ship to link with another train at the Lakehead. After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the trains and ships carried automobiles as well as passengers. This service featured what was to become the last
boat trainA boat train is a passenger train which connects with a passenger ship, such as a ferry or ocean liner. Through ticketing is normally available. -Notable named boat trains:*The Flèche d'Or Paris Gare du Nord to Calais...
in North America. The
Steam Boat was a fast, direct connecting train between Toronto and Port McNicoll. The passenger service was discontinued at the end of season in 1965 with one ship, the
Keewatin, carrying on in freight service for two more years. It later became a marine museum in the United States.
After World War II, passenger traffic declined as automobiles and aeroplanes became more common, but the CPR continued to innovate in an attempt to keep ridership up. Beginning November 9, 1953, the CPR introduced
Budd Rail Diesel CarThe Budd Rail Diesel Car, RDC or Buddliner is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar. In the period 1949–62, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States...
s (RDCs) on many of its lines. Officially called "Dayliners" by the CPR, they were always referred to as
Budd Cars by employees. Greatly reduced travel times and reduced costs resulted, which saved service on many lines for a number of years. The CPR would go on to acquire the second largest fleet of RDCs totaling 52 cars. Only the
Boston and Maine RailroadThe Boston and Maine Corporation , known as the Boston and Maine Railroad until 1964, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century...
had more. This CPR fleet also included the rare model RDC-4 (which consisted of a mail section at one end and a baggage section at the other end with no formal passenger section). On April 24, 1955, the CPR introduced a new luxury transcontinental passenger train,
The Canadian. The train provided service between Vancouver and Toronto or Montreal (east of Sudbury; the train was in two sections). The train, which operated on an expedited schedule, was pulled by diesel locomotives, and used new, streamlined, stainless steel rolling stock.
Starting in the 1960s, however, the railway started to discontinue much of its passenger service, particularly on its branch lines. For example, passenger service ended on its line through southern
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...
and
Crowsnest PassCrowsnest Pass is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta/British Columbia border.-Geography:...
in January 1964, and on its Quebec Central in April 1967, and the transcontinental train
The Dominion was dropped in January 1966. On October 29, 1978, CP Rail transferred its passenger services to
Via RailVia Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
, a new federal Crown corporation that was now responsible for intercity passenger services in Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney presided over major cuts in Via Rail service on January 15, 1990. This ended service by "The Canadian" over CPR rails, and the train was rerouted on the former "Super Continental" route via Canadian National without a change of name. Where both trains had been daily prior to the January 15, 1990, cuts, the surviving "Canadian" was (and is) only a three-times-weekly operation.
In addition to inter-city passenger services, the CPR also provided
commuter railCommuter rail services in the United States, Canada, and Mexico provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis primarily for short-distance travel between a central business district and adjacent suburbs and...
services in Montreal. CP Rail introduced Canada's first
bi-level passenger carsThe bilevel car or double-decker coach is a type of rail car that has two levels of passenger accommodation, as opposed to one, increasing passenger capacity ....
here in 1970. On October 1, 1982, the
Montreal Urban Community Transit CommissionThe Société de transport de Montréal is a public transport agency that operates transit bus, and rapid transit services in Montreal, Quebec, Canada...
(STCUM) assumed responsibility for the commuter services previously provided by CP Rail. It continues under the
Metropolitan Transportation AgencyThe Agence métropolitaine de transport is the umbrella organization that plans, integrates, and coordinates public transportation services across Canada's Greater Montreal Region, including the Island of Montreal, Laval , and communities along both the North Shore of the Rivière des Mille-Îles...
(AMT).
Canadian Pacific Railway currently operates three commuter services under contract. The
West Coast ExpressWest Coast Express is the interregional commuter railway in British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1995, it links Mission, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, and Port Moody with Waterfront Station in Downtown Vancouver, where it interchanges with SkyTrain rapid transit, SeaBus and...
comprises ten daily trains between downtown Vancouver and its eastern suburbs on behalf of
TransLinkTransLink is the organization responsible for the regional transportation network of Metro Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, including public transport and major roads and bridges...
, a regional transit authority.
GO TransitGO Transit is an inter-regional public transit system in Southern Ontario, Canada. It primarily serves the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area conurbation, with operations extending to several communities beyond the GTHA proper in the Greater Golden Horseshoe...
contracts CPR to operate six return trips between Milton and downtown Toronto in Ontario. In Montreal, 59 daily commuter trains run on CPR lines from
Lucien-L'Allier StationLucien-L'Allier is the commuter rail terminal for the AMT Vaudreuil-Hudson, Blainville-Saint-Jerome, and Candiac lines in the Greater Montreal area in Quebec, Canada. Lucien-L'Allier is in Fare Zone 1. It is one of the two downtown terminals for Montreal commuter trains, the other being Gare...
to
Candiac,
Rigaud and Blainville–Saint-Jerome on behalf of the AMT.
The
Rocky MountaineerRocky Mountaineer is a Canadian tour company offering Western Canadian vacation packages that operates trains on four rail routes through British Columbia and Alberta.-Background:...
excursion train is also crewed (Engineer and Conductor) by CP employees where it operates on their right of way.
Sleeping, Dining and Parlour Car Department
Sleeping carThe sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...
s were operated by a separate department of the railway that included the dining and parlour cars and aptly named as the Sleeping, Dining and Parlour Car Department.
The CPR decided from the very beginning that it would operate its own sleeping cars, unlike railways in the United States that depended upon independent companies that specialized in providing cars and porters, including building the cars themselves. Pullman was long a famous name in this regard; its Pullman porters were legendary. Other early companies included the Wagner Palace Car Company. Bigger-sized berths and more comfortable surroundings were built by order of the CPR's General Manager, William Van Horne, who was a large man himself. Providing and operating their own cars allowed better control of the service provided as well as keeping all of the revenue received, although profit was never a direct result of providing food to passengers. Rather, it was the realization that those who could afford to travel great distances expected such facilities and their favourable opinion would bode well to attracting others to Canada and the CPR's trains.
This department also operated the news service which provided the news agents on passenger trains, who sold small refreshments and many other items such as playing cards to travellers, who might otherwise be unable to afford the higher priced
dining carA dining car or restaurant carriage , also diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant....
meals. The news service also operated lunch counters in medium-sized stations at key points (there were 19 of them east of Winnipeg) while the large terminal stations had dining rooms operated directly by the Dining Car Department (for example, the Alouette Room in Montreal's
Windsor Station (Montreal)Windsor Station is a former train station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formerly serving as the city's Canadian Pacific Railway Station.Windsor Station was the Canadian Pacific Railway's headquarters built between 1887 and 1889. The Romanesque Revival building was designed by New York architect...
and the Pacific Room in the Vancouver station).
Express
W. C. Van Horne decided from the very beginning that the CPR would retain as much revenue from its various operations as it could. This translated into keeping express, telegraph, sleeping car and other lines of business for themselves, creating separate departments or companies as necessary. This was necessary as the fledgling railway would need all the income it could get, and in addition, he saw some of these ancillary operations such as express and telegraph as being quite profitable. Others such as sleeping and dining cars were kept in order to provide better control over the quality of service being provided to passengers. Hotels were likewise crucial to the CPR’s growth by attracting travellers.
Dominion Express Company was formed independently in 1873 before the CPR itself, although train service did not begin until the summer of 1882 at which time it operated over some 300 miles (482.8 km) of track from Rat Portage (Kenora) Ontario west to Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was soon absorbed into the CPR and expanded everywhere the CPR went. It was renamed
Canadian Express Company on September 1, 1926, and the headquarters moved from Winnipeg, to Toronto. It was operated as a separate company with the railway charging them to haul express cars on trains. At major terminals separate buildings usually next to stations were owned by CPE. At smaller locations where volume would not warrant a separate employee the local station agent would act for the Express Company receiving a commission for all sales made on their behalf.
Express was handled in separate cars, some with employees on board, on the headend of passenger trains to provide a fast scheduled service for which higher rates could be charged than for LCL (Less than Carload Lot), small shipments of freight which were subject to delay. Aside from all sorts of small shipments for all kinds of businesses such products as cream, butter, poultry, and eggs were handled along with fresh flowers, fish and other sea foods some handled in separate refrigerated cars. Horses and livestock along with birds and small animals including prize cattle for exhibition were carried often in special horse cars that had facilities for grooms to ride with their animals. Automobiles for individuals were also handled by express in closed boxcars. Gold and silver bullion as well as cash were carried in large amounts between the mint and banks. Small business money shipments and valuables such as jewellery were routinely handled in small packets. Money orders and travellers’ cheques were an important part of the express company’s business and were used worldwide in the years before credit cards.
Canadian Express Cartage Department was formed in March 1937 to handle pickup and delivery of most express shipments including less-than-carload freight. Their trucks were painted Killarney (dark) green while regular express company vehicles were painted bright red.
Express routes using highway trucks beginning in November 1945 in southern Ontario and Alberta co-ordinated rail and highway service expanded service to better serve smaller locations especially on branchlines. Trucking operations would go on to expand across Canada making it an important transportation provider for small shipments. Deregulation in the 1980s changed everything, and it was not long before all trucking services were ended even after many attempts to change with the times. CanPar was one such attempt.
Telegraph
The original charter of the CPR granted in 1881 provided for the right to create an electric telegraph and
telephoneThe telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
service including charging for it. The telephone had barely been invented but telegraph was well established as a means of communicating quickly across great distances. Being allowed to sell this service meant the railway could offset the costs of constructing and maintaining a pole line along its tracks across vast distances for its own purposes which were largely for dispatching trains. It began doing so in 1882 as the separate Telegraph Department. It would go on to provide a link between the cables under the Atlantic and Pacific oceans when they were completed. Prior to the CPR line messages to the west could be sent only via the United States.
Paid for by the word, a telegram was an expensive way to send messages but, vital to businesses. An individual receiving a personal telegram was seen as being someone important except for those that transmitted sorrow in the form of death notices. Messengers on bicycles delivered telegrams and picked up a reply in cities. In smaller locations the local railway station agent would handle this on a commission basis. To speed things, at the local end messages would first be telephoned.
In 1931 it became the Communications Department in recognition of the expanding services provided which included telephones lines,
news wireA news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
, ticker quotations for the
stock marketA stock market or equity market is a public entity for the trading of company stock and derivatives at an agreed price; these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately.The size of the world stock market was estimated at about $36.6 trillion...
and eventually
TeleprinterA teleprinter is a electromechanical typewriter that can be used to communicate typed messages from point to point and point to multipoint over a variety of communication channels that range from a simple electrical connection, such as a pair of wires, to the use of radio and microwave as the...
s. All were faster than
mailMail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
and very important to
businessA business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and the public alike for many decades before
cell phonesA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
and
computerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s came along.
It was the coming of these newer technologies especially cellular telephones that eventually resulted in the demise of these services even after formation in 1967 of
CN-CP TelecommunicationsCNCP Telecommunications was an electrical telegraph operator and later as a telecom company...
in an effort to effect efficiencies through consolidation rather than competition.
DeregulationDeregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
in the 1980s brought about mergers and the sale of remaining services and facilities.
Radio
On January 17, 1930, the CPR applied for licenses to operate
radio stationRadio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s in 11 cities from coast to coast for the purpose of organizing its own
radio networkThere are two types of radio networks currently in use around the world: the one-to-many broadcast type commonly used for public information and mass media entertainment; and the two-way type used more commonly for public safety and public services such as police, fire, taxicabs, and delivery...
in order to compete with the
CNR RadioCNR Radio or CN Radio was the first national radio network in North America. It was developed, owned and operated by the Canadian National Railway between 1923 and 1932 to provide en route entertainment and information for its train passengers...
service. The CNR had built a radio network with the aim of promoting itself as well as entertaining its passengers during their travels. The onset of the Great Depression hurt the CPR's financial plan for a rival project and in April they withdrew their applications for stations in all but Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg. CPR did not end up pursuing these applications but instead operated a
phantom stationA phantom radio station was, in the early days of radio, one which did not own or operate a radio transmitter and was licensed to broadcast only over an existing physical station from which it leased time...
in Toronto known as "CPRY," with initials standing for "Canadian Pacific Royal York" which operated out of studios at CP's
Royal York HotelThe Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
and leased time on CFRB and CKGW. A network of affiliates carried the CPR radio network's broadcasts in the first half of the 1930s, but the takeover of CNR's Radio service by the new
Canadian Radio Broadcasting CommissionThe Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Origins:...
removed CPR's need to have a network for competitive reasons, and CPR's radio service was discontinued in 1935.
Steamships
SteamshipsA steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
played an important part in the history of CP from the very earliest days. During construction of the line in British Columbia even before the private CPR took over from the government contractor, ships were used to bring supplies to the construction sites. Similarly, to reach the isolated area of Superior in northern Ontario ships were used to bring in supplies to the construction work. While this work was going on there was already regular passenger service to the West. Trains operated from Toronto to Owen Sound where CPR steamships connected to Fort William where trains once again operated to reach Winnipeg. Before the CPR was completed the only way to reach the West was through the United States via St. Paul and Winnipeg. This Great Lakes steam ship service continued as an alternative route for many years and was always operated by the railway. It would become the last operation in North America to feature a special connecting boat train.
In 1884, CPR began purchasing sailing ships as part of a railway supply service 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...
. Over time, CPR became a railroad company with widely organized water transportation auxiliaries including the
Great Lakes serviceThe Canadian Pacific Railway Upper Lake Service, also known as the Canadian Pacific Railway Upper Lake Steamships, was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway which began operating passenger and cargo shipping routes in the Great Lakes during the late 19th century.-CPR overview:In 1884, CPR began...
, the trans-Pacific service, the
Pacific coastal serviceThe Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Service, also known as the British Columbia Coast Steamships , was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway which began operating Pacific coastal shipping routes in the late 19th century...
, the
British Columbia lake and river serviceThe Canadian Pacific River Lake and River Service, also known as the British Columbia Lake and River Service, was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway which began operating passenger and cargo shipping routes along British Columbia's inland waters during the late 19th century.-CPR overview:In...
, the trans-Atlantic service, and the Ferry service. In the 20th century, the company evolved into a transcontinental railroad which operated two transoceanic services which connected Canada with Europe and with Asia. The range of CPR services were aspects of a integrated plan.
Once the railway was completed to British Columbia the CPR chartered and soon bought their own steamships. These sleek steamships were of the latest design and christened with the prefix Empress in a link to the Orient. Travel to and from the Orient and cargo, especially imported tea and silk were an important source of revenue aided by Royal Mail contracts. This was an important part of the All Red Route to link the British Empire. The other ocean part was the Atlantic service from England which began with acquisition of two existing lines, Beaver Line, owned by Elder Dempster and Allan Lines. These two segments became Canadian Pacific Ocean Services (later, Canadian Pacific Steamships) and operated separately from the various lake services operated in Canada. These trans-ocean routes made it possible to travel from
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to
Hong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
using only the CPR's ships, trains and hotels. CP’s 'Empress' ships became world-famous for their luxury and speed. They had a practical role too in transporting immigrants from much of Europe to Canada especially to populate the vast prairies. They also played an important role in both world wars with many of them being lost to enemy action including the
Empress of BritainRMS Empress of Britain was a transatlantic ocean liner built by Fairfield Shipbuilding at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland in 1905-1906 for Canadian Pacific Steamship . This ship -- the first of three CP vessels to be named Empress of Britain -- regularly traversed the trans-Atlantic route between...
.
There were also a number of
rail ferriesA train ferry is a ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as...
operated over the years as well including, between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan from 1890 until 1915. This began with two paddle-wheelers capable of carrying 16 cars. Passenger cars were carried as well as freight. This service ended in 1915 when the CPR made an agreement with the Michigan Central to use their Detroit River tunnel opened in 1910.
Pennsylvania-Ontario Transportation Company was formed jointly with the PRR in 1906 to operate a ferry across lake Erie between Ashtabula, Ohio and Port Burwell, Ontario to carry freight cars, mostly of coal, much of it to be burned in CPR steam locomotives. Only one ferry boat was ever operated, the
Ashtabula, a large vessel which eventually sank in a harbour collision in Ashtabula on September 18, 1958, thus ending the service.
Canadian Pacific Car and Passenger Transfer Company was formed by other interest in 1888 linking the CPR in Prescott, Ontario, and the NYC in Ogdensburg, New York. Service on this route had actually begun very early, in 1854 along with service from Brockville. A bridge built in 1958 ended passenger service however, freight continued until Ogdensburg's dock was destroyed by fire September 25, 1970, thus ending all service. CPC&PTC was never owned by the CPR.
Bay of FundyThe Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
ferryA ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
service was operated for passengers and freight for many years linking
Digby, Nova ScotiaDigby is a Canadian town in western Nova Scotia. It is the shiretown and largest population centre in Digby County.The town is situated on the western shore of the Annapolis Basin near the entrance to the Digby Gut which connects the basin to the Bay of Fundy.Named after Admiral Robert Digby, RN,...
, and
Saint John, New BrunswickCity of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
.
Eventually, after 78 years, with the changing times the scheduled passenger services would all be ended as well as ocean cruises. Cargo would continue on both oceans with a change over to containers. CP was an intermodal pioneer especially on land with road and rail mixing to provide the best service.
CP ShipsCP Ships was a large Canadian container shipping company, prior to being taken over by Hapag Lloyd in late 2005. CP Ships had its head office in the City of Westminster in London and later in the City Place Gatwick development on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex.The...
was the final operation, and in the end it too left CP ownership when it was spun off in 2001.
CP ShipsCP Ships was a large Canadian container shipping company, prior to being taken over by Hapag Lloyd in late 2005. CP Ships had its head office in the City of Westminster in London and later in the City Place Gatwick development on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex.The...
was merged with
Hapag-LloydHapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, which in turn owns other subsidiaries such as Hapag-Lloyd Ships and a cruise line, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises which is now integrated into TUI AG, Hanover...
in 2005.
BC Coast Steamships
The
Canadian Pacific Railway Coast ServiceThe Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Service, also known as the British Columbia Coast Steamships , was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway which began operating Pacific coastal shipping routes in the late 19th century...
(British Columbia Coast Steamships or BCCS) was established when the CPR acquired in 1901 Canadian Pacific Navigation Company (no relation) and its large fleet of ships that served 72 ports along the coast of British Columbia including on Vancouver Island. Service included the Vancouver-Victoria-Seattle
Triangle Route, Gulf Islands, Powell River, as well as Vancouver-Alaska service. BCCS operated a fleet of 14 passenger ships made up of a number of
Princess ships, pocket versions of the famous ocean going
Empress ships along with a freighter, three tugs and five rail car barges. Popular with tourists, the Princess ships were famous in their own right especially the
Princess Marguerite (II) which became the last coastal liner operating from 1949 until 1985. The best known of the princess ships, however, is the
Princess SophiaThe SS Princess Sophia was a steel-built coastal passenger liner in the coastal service fleet of the Canadian Pacific Railway . Along with the SS Princess Adelaide the SS Princess Alice and the SS Princess Mary, the SS Princess Sophia was one of four sister ships built for CPR during 1910-1911.On...
, which sank with no survivors in October 1918 after striking the
Vanderbilt ReefVanderbilt Reef is a rocky outcropping in Lynn Canal, a fjord in Alaska, USA at . The outcropping is visible just above the water's surface....
in Alaska's
Lynn CanalLynn Canal is an inlet into the mainland of southeast Alaska.Lynn Canal runs about from the inlets of the Chilkat River south to Chatham Strait and Stephens Passage...
, constituting the largest maritime disaster in the history of the Pacific Northwest.
These services continued for many years until changing conditions in the late 1950s brought about their decline and eventual demise at the end of season in 1974. The
Princess Marguerite was acquired by the province’s British Columbia Steamship (1975) Ltd. and continued to operate for a number of years.
BC Lake and River Service
The
Canadian Pacific Railway Lake and River ServiceThe Canadian Pacific River Lake and River Service, also known as the British Columbia Lake and River Service, was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway which began operating passenger and cargo shipping routes along British Columbia's inland waters during the late 19th century.-CPR overview:In...
(British Columbia Lake and River Service) developed slowly and in spurts of growth.
CP began a long history of service in the Kootenays region of southern British Columbia beginning with the purchase in 1897 of the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company which operated a fleet of steamers and barges on the
Arrow LakesThe Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Beachland is fairly rare, and is interspersed with rocky...
and was merged into the CPR as the CPR Lake and River Service which also served the
Arrow Lakes and Columbia RiverThe era of steamboats on the Arrow Lakes and adjoining reaches of the Columbia River is long-gone but was an important part of the history of the West Kootenay and Columbia Country regions of British Columbia. The Arrow Lakes are formed by the Columbia River in southeastern British Columbia...
, Kootenay Lake and Kootenai River,
Lake OkanaganLake Okanagan, also called Okanagan Lake, is the largest lake in the Okanogan River drainage, which is tributary to the Columbia River basin, and is the core of the Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada. During its early days of settlement and development, lack of roads the region made the...
and Skaha Lake,
Slocan LakeSlocan Lake is a lake in the Slocan Country of the West Kootenay region of the Southeastern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. it is drained by the Slocan River, which flows south from the lake's foot at Slocan City through the Slocan Valley to South Slocan, British Columbia, where that river...
, Trout Lake, and
Shuswap LakeShuswap Lake is a lake located in south-central British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River, a branch of the Thompson River, a tributary of the Fraser River...
and the
Thompson RiverThe 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...
/
Kamloops LakeKamloops Lake in British Columbia, Canada is situated on the Thompson River just west of Kamloops. The lake is 1.6 km wide, 29 km long, and up to 152 m deep...
.
All of these lake operations had one thing in common, the need for shallow draft therefore sternwheelers were the choice of ship. Tugs and barges handled rail equipment including one operation that saw the entire train including the locomotive and caboose go along. These services gradually declined and ended in 1975 except for a freight barge on Slocan Lake. This was the one where the entire train went along since the barge was a link to an isolated section of track. The
Iris G tug boat and a barge were operated under contract to CP Rail until the last train ran late in December 1988. The sternwheel steamship
MoyieThe Moyie is a paddle steamer sternwheeler that worked on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia, Canada from 1898 until 1957.After her nearly sixty years of service, she was sold to the town of Kaslo and restored...
on Kootenay Lake was the last CPR passenger boat in BC lake service, having operated from 1898 until 1957. It became a beached historical exhibit, as are also the
Sicamous and
Naramata at Penticton on Lake Okanagan.
Hotels
To promote tourism and passenger ridership the Canadian Pacific established a series of first class resort hotels. These hotels became landmarks famous in their own right. They include
The AlgonquinThe Fairmont Algonquin is a coastal resort hotel in the Tudor style, located in Canada's first seaside resort town, St. Andrews, New Brunswick. It was built in 1889 by the St...
in
St. AndrewsSt. Andrews is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick.It is sometimes referred to in tourism marketing by its unofficial nickname "St. Andrews-by-the-sea".-Geography:St...
,
Château FrontenacThe Château Frontenac, currently known as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, is a grand hotel in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980...
in
QuebecQuebec , 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...
,
Royal YorkThe Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
in Toronto, Minaki Lodge in Minaki Ontario, Hotel Vancouver,
Empress HotelThe Fairmont Empress is one of the oldest and most famous hotels in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Located on Government Street facing the Inner Harbour, the Empress has become an iconic symbol for the city itself...
in
VictoriaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
and the
Banff Springs HotelThe Fairmont Banff Springs or simply the Banff Springs Hotel is a former railway hotel constructed in Scottish Baronial style located in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The original hotel, designed by American architect Bruce Price, was built between spring of 1887 and 1888 by the Canadian...
and
Chateau Lake LouiseThe Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is a Fairmont Hotel on the eastern shore of Lake Louise, near Banff, Alberta. The original Chateau was gradually built up at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway and was thus "kin" to its predecessors, the Banff...
in the Canadian Rockies. Several signature hotels were acquired from its competitor
Canadian NationalThe Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
during the 1980s. The hotels retain their Canadian Pacific heritage but are no longer operated by the railroad. In 1998
Canadian Pacific HotelsCanadian Pacific Hotels was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway that operated a series of hotels across Canada. Most of these resort hotels were originally built and operated by the railway's Hotel Department, while a few were acquired from Canadian National Hotels...
acquired
Fairmont HotelsFairmont Hotels & Resorts is a Canadian-based operator of luxury hotels and resorts. Currently, Fairmont operates properties in 18 countries including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, United Kingdom, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the...
, an American company, becoming
Fairmont Hotels and ResortsFairmont Hotels & Resorts is a Canadian-based operator of luxury hotels and resorts. Currently, Fairmont operates properties in 18 countries including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, United Kingdom, Monaco, Germany, Switzerland, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the...
Inc. and the combined corporation operated the historic Canadian properties as well as the Fairmont's U.S. properties until sold in 2006.
Airline
Canadian Pacific Airlines, also called CP Air, operated from 1942 to 1987 and was the main competitor of Canadian government-owned
Air CanadaAir Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
. Based at
Vancouver International AirportVancouver International Airport is located on Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, about from Downtown Vancouver. In 2010 it was the second busiest airport in Canada by aircraft movements and passengers , behind Toronto Pearson International Airport, with non-stop flights daily to...
, it served Canadian and international routes until it was purchased by
Pacific Western AirlinesPacific Western Airlines was an airline that operated scheduled flights throughout western Canada and charter services around the world from the 1950s through the 1980s...
which merged PWA and CP Air to create
Canadian AirlinesCanadian Airlines International Ltd. was a Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada, and carried more than 11.9 million passengers to over 160 destinations in 17 countries on five continents at its height in 1996...
.
Silk trains
Between the 1890s and the 1940s, the CPR transported raw
silkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
cocoons from Vancouver, where they had been shipped from the
OrientThe Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...
, to silk mills in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. A silk train could carry several million dollars worth of silk, so they had their own armed guards. To avoid train robberies and so minimize insurance costs, they traveled quickly and stopped only to change locomotives and crews, which was often done in under five minutes. The silk trains had superior rights over all other trains; even passenger trains (including the Royal Train of 1939) would be put in sidings to make the silk trains' trip faster. At the end of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the invention of
nylonNylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...
made silk less valuable so the silk trains died out.
Funeral trains
Funeral trainA funeral train is a train specially chartered in order to carry a coffin or coffins to a resting place. Funeral trains today are often reserved for leaders and national heroes, as part of a state funeral, but in the past were sometimes the chief means of transporting coffins and mourners to...
s would carry the remains of important people, such as prime ministers. As the train would pass, mourners would be at certain spots to show respect. Two of the CPR's funeral trains are particularly well-known. On June 10, 1891, the funeral train of
Prime MinisterA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Sir John A. Macdonald ran from Ottawa to
Kingston, OntarioKingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
. The train consisted of five heavily draped passenger cars and was pulled by
4-4-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
No. 283. On September 14, 1915, the funeral train of former CPR president Sir William Cornelius Van Horne ran from Montreal to
JolietJoliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...
,
IllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, pulled by
4-6-24-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...
No. 2213.
The Canadian was used as funeral train for former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1979.
Royal trains
The CPR ran a number of trains that transported members of the Royal family when they toured Canada. These trains transported royalty through Canada's scenery, forests, small towns and enabled people to see and greet them. Their trains were elegantly decorated; some had amenities such as a post office and barber shop. The CPR's most notable royal train was in 1939.
In 1939 the CPR and the CNR had the honour of giving
King George VIGeorge VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
and
Queen ElizabethElizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
a rail tour of Canada, from
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...
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,...
. This was the first visit to Canada by a reigning Monarch. The steam locomotives used to pull the train included CPR 2850, a Hudson (
4-6-4Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification:...
) built by
Montreal Locomotive WorksMontreal Locomotive Works was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883–1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company...
in 1938, CNR 6400, a U-4-a Northern (
4-8-4Under the Whyte notation classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification: 2D2...
) and CNR 6028 a U-1-b Mountain (
4-8-2Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-8-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle...
) type. They were specially painted royal blue with silver trim as was the entire train, the locomotives ran 5189 km (3,224.3 mi) across Canada, through 25 changes of crew, without engine failure. The King, somewhat of a railbuff, rode in the cab when possible. After the tour, King George gave the CPR permission to use the term "
Royal HudsonThe term Royal Hudson refers to a group of semi-streamlined 4-6-4 Hudson steam locomotives owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway and built by Montreal Locomotive Works . The engine was built in 1938. In 1939, King George VI allowed the CPR to use the term after Royal Hudson number 2850 transported...
" for the CPR locomotives and to display Royal Crowns on their running boards. This applied only to the semi-streamlined locomotives (2820–2864), not the "standard" Hudsons (2800–2819).
School cars
Between 1926 and the early 1960s the CPR ran a school car to reach people who lived in Northern Ontario, far from schools. A teacher would travel in a specially designed car to remote areas and would stay to teach in one area for two to three days, then leave for another area. Each car had a blackboard and a few sets of chairs and desks. They also contained miniature libraries. These school cars were useful in spreading education and literacy.
Silver Streak
Major filming for the 1976 movie
Silver Streak, a fictional comedy tale of a murder-infested train trip from
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to
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...
, was done on the CPR, mainly in the
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...
area with station footage at
Toronto's Union StationUnion Station is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Toronto, located on Front Street West and occupying the south side of the block bounded by Bay Street and York Street in the central business district. The station building is owned by the City of Toronto, while the...
. The train set was so lightly disguised as the fictional "AMRoad" that the locomotives and cars still carried their original names and numbers, along with the easily-identifiable CP Rail red-striped paint scheme. Most of the cars are still in revenue service on Via Rail Canada; the lead locomotive is extant in Quebec, though she is unserviceable, but the second unit has been scrapped.
Holiday Train
Starting in 1999, the CPR runs a Holiday Train along its main line during the months of November and December. The Holiday Train celebrates the Christmas season and collects donations for community
food bankA food bank or foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes mostly donated food to a wide variety of agencies that in turn feed the hungry. The largest sources of food are for-profit growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who in the normal course of business have...
s. The Holiday Train also provides publicity for the CPR and a few of its customers. Each train has a box car stage for entertainers who are travelling along with the train. The train is a freight train, but also pulls vintage passenger cars which are used as lodging/transportation for the entertainers. People that come to see the train may even come on board and check out some of the holiday decorations and vintage passenger cars. Since its launch in 1999, the Holiday Train program has raised more than $2.3 million
CADThe Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
and 506 tons of food for North American food banks. All donations collected in a community remain in that community for distribution. It collects donations of food and money (as well as makes its own donations) for the needy to help better their Christmas.
The Holiday Train is a Christmas-themed train. The trains are decorated; each car as well as the locomotive and caboose are covered in Christmas lights, and the trains pass through every major city and town on the CP system. There are three trains, which cover the five main regions of the CP:
- US Northeast
- US Midwest
- Quebec and Ontario
- Manitoba and Saskatchewan
- Alberta and British Columbia
Royal Canadian Pacific
On June 7, 2000, the CPR inaugurated the
Royal Canadian PacificThe Royal Canadian Pacific is a luxury excursion passenger train operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway , inaugurated on June 7, 2000, after the CPR received the royal designation for the service from Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada....
, a luxury excursion service that operates between the months of June and September. It operates along a 1050 km (652.4 mi) route from Calgary, through the
Columbia ValleyThe Columbia Valley is the name used for a region in the Rocky Mountain Trench near the headwaters of the Columbia River between the town of Golden and the Canal Flats. The main hub of the valley is the town of Invermere. Other towns include Radium Hot Springs, Windermere and Fairmont Hot Springs...
in
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...
, and returning to Calgary via
Crowsnest PassCrowsnest Pass is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta/British Columbia border.-Geography:...
. The trip takes six days and five nights. The train consists of up to eight luxury passenger cars built between 1916 and 1931 and is powered by first-generation diesel locomotives.
Steam train
In 1998, the CPR repatriated one of its former passenger steam locomotives that had been on static display in the United States following its sale in January 1964, long after the close of the steam era. CPR Hudson
2816Canadian Pacific 2816, named the Empress, is a 4-6-4 H1b Hudson used by the Canadian Pacific Railway in occasional excursion service. The 2816 is the only non-streamlined H1 Hudson remaining .-First career:Locomotive 2816 was one of ten H1b-class Canadian Pacific 2816, named the Empress, is a 4-6-4...
was re-designated
Empress 2816 following a 30-month restoration that cost in excess of $1 million. It was subsequently returned to service to promote public relations. It has operated across much of the CPR system, including lines in the United States. It has been used for various charitable purposes, the most significant of which has been to raise awareness of the need to provide children with a nourishing breakfast to aid their learning in school. One hundred percent of the money raised goes to the nation-wide charity Breakfast For Learning — the CPR bears all of the expenses associated with the operation of the train.
Spirit Train
In 2008, Canadian Pacific partnered with the
2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter GamesThe 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
to present a "Spirit Train" tour that featured Olympic-themed events at various stops.
Colin JamesColin James is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, who plays in the blues, rock, and neo-swing genres. He grew up as a Quaker.-Early years:...
was a headline entertainer. Several stops were met by protesters who argued that the games were slated to take place on what they described as stolen indigenous land.
Steam locomotives
In the CPR's early years, it made extensive use of
American Standard 4-4-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
steam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s and example of this is the
Countess of DufferinThe Countess of Dufferin was the first steam locomotive to operate in the Canadian prairie provinces and is named after Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Countess of Dufferin , the wife of the Earl of Dufferin, a Governor General of Canada. The locomotive was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works...
. Later, considerable use was also made of the
4-6-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
type for passenger and
2-8-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
type for freight.
Starting in the 20th century, the CPR bought and built hundreds of
Ten-Wheeler type
4-6-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This wheel arrangement became the second-most popular...
s for passenger and freight service and similar quantities of
2-8-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-8-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle , eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels...
s and
2-10-2Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-10-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, ten powered and coupled driving wheels on five axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle, usually in a trailing truck...
s for freight. 2-10-2s were also used in passenger service on mountain routes. The CPR bought hundreds of
4-6-24-6-2, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and two trailing wheels on one axle .These locomotives are also known as Pacifics...
Pacifics between 1906 and 1948 with later versions being true dual purpose passenger and fast freight locomotives.
The CPR built hundreds of its own locomotives at its shops in Montreal, first at the
New Shops as the DeLorimer shops were commonly referred to and at the massive Angus Shops that replaced them in 1904.
Some of the CPR's best-known locomotives were the
4-6-4Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles .Other equivalent classifications are:UIC classification:...
Hudsons. First built in 1929 they began a new era of modern locomotives with capabilities that changed how transcontinental passenger trains ran, eliminating frequent changes en route. What once took 24 changes of engines in 1886, all of them 4-4-0s except for two of 2-8-0s in the mountains, for 2883 miles (4,639.7 km) between Montreal and Vancouver became 8 changes. The 2800s (Twenty Eight Hundreds) as the Hudson type was known, ran from Toronto to Fort William a distance of 811 miles (1,305.2 km), while another lengthy engine district was from Winnipeg to Calgary 832 miles (1,339 km).
Especially notable were the semi-
streamlinedA streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor "bullet trains". Less commonly, the term is applied to fully faired recumbent bicycles...
H1 class
Royal HudsonThe term Royal Hudson refers to a group of semi-streamlined 4-6-4 Hudson steam locomotives owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway and built by Montreal Locomotive Works . The engine was built in 1938. In 1939, King George VI allowed the CPR to use the term after Royal Hudson number 2850 transported...
, locomotives that were given their name because one of their class hauled the Royal Train carrying King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the 1939 Royal Tour across Canada without change or failure. That locomotive, No. 2850, is preserved in the Exporail exhibit hall of the
Canadian Railway MuseumThe Canadian Railway Museum Musée Ferrovaire Canadien) is a rail transport museum in Delson/Saint-Constant, Quebec south of Montreal.-Collection:...
in St. Constant (Delson) Quebec. One of the class, No. 2860, was restored by the
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...
government and used in excursion service on the British Columbia Railway between 1974 and 1999.
In 1929, the CPR received its first
2-10-4Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-10-4 locomotive has two leading wheels, ten driving wheels , and four trailing wheels...
Selkirk locomotiveThe Selkirk locomotives were 36 steam locomotives of the 2-10-4 wheel arrangement built for Canadian Pacific Railway by Montreal Locomotive Works, Montreal, Quebec, Canada....
s, the largest steam locomotives to run in Canada and the British Empire. Named after the Selkirk Mountains where they served, these locomotives were well suited for steep grades. They were regularly used in passenger and freight service. The CPR would own 37 of these locomotives, including number 8000, an experimental high pressure engine. The last steam locomotives that the CPR received, in 1949, were Selkirks, numbered 5930–5935.
Note: The last Selkirk built, number 5935, is preserved at the
Canadian Railway MuseumThe Canadian Railway Museum Musée Ferrovaire Canadien) is a rail transport museum in Delson/Saint-Constant, Quebec south of Montreal.-Collection:...
. (You can not climb inside but you can touch it). One other 2-10-4 Selkirk from this last order (5930-5935) has also been preserved; number 5931. It is displayed, within a chain-link fence, at the main entrance to Heritage Park in Calgary, Alberta. For most of its display life, it was intentionally painted with the incorrect number (5934) and was displayed on the west end of downtown Calgary next to the CPR mainline. It now bears its original and correct number (5931) after being repainted and renumbered for its current display location next to Heritage Park.
Diesel locomotives
In 1937, the CPR acquired its first diesel-electric locomotive, a custom built one-of-a-kind switcher numbered 7000. This locomotive was not successful and was not repeated. Production model diesels were imported from
American Locomotive CompanyThe American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...
(Alco) starting with five model
S-2The ALCO S2 and S4 were switcher diesel locomotives produced by ALCO and Canadian licensee Montreal Locomotive Works . Basically, the two locomotives differed only in trucks, with the S-2 using ALCO's own Blunt trucks, and the S-4 riding on standard AAR type A switcher trucks. Both were powered...
yard switchers in 1943 and followed by further orders. In 1949, operations on lines in
VermontVermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
were dieselized with
Alco FA1The ALCO FA was a family of B-B diesel locomotives designed to haul freight trains. The locomotives were built by a partnership of ALCO and GE in Schenectady, New York, between January 1946 and May 1959. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead FA and cabless booster FB models...
road locomotives (8 A and 4 B units), 5
Alco RS-2The ALCO RS-2 is a , B-B road switcher railroad locomotive. It was manufactured by American Locomotive Company from October 1946 to May 1950, and 378 were produced — 369 by the American Locomotive Company, and 9 by Montreal Locomotive Works in Canada. Eight of the ALCO RS-2s were exported to...
road switchers, 3 Alco S-2 switchers and 3
EMD E8The EMD E8 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, or E8A, was manufactured from August, 1949 to December, 1953, and 449 were produced – 446 for U.S., and 3 for Canada...
passenger locomotives. In 1948
Montreal Locomotive WorksMontreal Locomotive Works was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883–1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company...
began production of Alco designs.
In 1949, the CPR acquired 13
BaldwinThe Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
designed locomotives from the
Canadian Locomotive CompanyThe Canadian Locomotive Company, commonly referred to as CLC, was a Canadian manufacturer of railway locomotives located in Kingston, Ontario. Its works were located on Ontario Street and Gore Street on Kingston's waterfront....
for its isolated Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, and
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...
was quickly dieselized. Following that successful experiment, the CPR started to dieselise its main network. Dieselization was completed 11 years later, with its last steam locomotive running on November 6, 1960. The CPR's first-generation locomotives were mostly made by
General Motors DieselGeneral Motors Diesel was a Canadian railway diesel locomotive manufacturer.-History:General Motors Diesel, Limited, was created in 1949 as the Canadian subsidiary of the Electro Motive Division of General Motors located in the United States...
and
Montreal Locomotive WorksMontreal Locomotive Works was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883–1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company...
, (
American Locomotive CompanyThe American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...
designs), with some made by the
Canadian Locomotive CompanyThe Canadian Locomotive Company, commonly referred to as CLC, was a Canadian manufacturer of railway locomotives located in Kingston, Ontario. Its works were located on Ontario Street and Gore Street on Kingston's waterfront....
to
BaldwinThe Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
and Fairbanks Morse designs.
CP was the first railway in North America to pioneer
ACIn alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
traction diesel-electric locomotives, in 1984. In 1995 CP turned to General Electric
GE Transportation SystemsGE Transportation, formerly known as GE Rail, is a division of General Electric. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation industries. It is based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Locomotives are assembled at the Erie plant, while engine...
for the first production AC traction locomotives in Canada, and now has the highest percentage of AC locomotives in service of all North American Class I railways. As of early 2007, 578 of the CPR's 1,669 locomotives are AC.
Roster
- EMD
- SD40
The EMD SD40 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and August 1972.-Design:Like its predecessor in EMD's catalog, the SD35, the SD40 is a high-horsepower, six-motor freight locomotive....
- SD40-2
The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C locomotive produced by EMD from 1972 to 1989.The SD40-2 was first introduced in January 1972 as the mid-range offering in EMD's six-axle "Dash-2" series, competing against the GE U30C and the MLW M630...
- SD40M-2
The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C locomotive produced by EMD from 1972 to 1989.The SD40-2 was first introduced in January 1972 as the mid-range offering in EMD's six-axle "Dash-2" series, competing against the GE U30C and the MLW M630...
- SD60
The EMD SD60 is a 3,800 horsepower 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. Intended for heavy-duty drag freight or medium-speed freight service, it was introduced in 1984, and production of SD60 variants ran until 1995.- History and development...
(ex–Soo Line)
- SD60M
The EMD SD60 is a 3,800 horsepower 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. Intended for heavy-duty drag freight or medium-speed freight service, it was introduced in 1984, and production of SD60 variants ran until 1995.- History and development...
(ex–Soo Line)
- SD90MAC
The EMD SD90MAC is a C-C diesel-electric hood unit locomotive produced by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. It is, with the SD80MAC, one of the largest single-engined locomotives produced by that company, surpassed only by the dual-engined DD series...
(SD90/43MAC)
- SD90MAC-H
The EMD SD90MAC is a C-C diesel-electric hood unit locomotive produced by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. It is, with the SD80MAC, one of the largest single-engined locomotives produced by that company, surpassed only by the dual-engined DD series...
- Slug
A railroad slug is an accessory to a diesel-electric locomotive. It has trucks with traction motors but is unable to move about under its own power, as it does not contain a prime mover to produce electricity...
- MP15DC
The EMD MP15DC was a switcher-type diesel locomotive model produced by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1974 and 1980. 351 examples were built...
, MP15ACThe EMD MP15AC is a 1,500 hp diesel switcher/road-switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between August 1975 and August 1984. 246 examples were built, including 25 for export to Mexico, and four built in Canada...
(ex-Soo Line, né Milwaukee Road)
- Fuel Tenders GP40
The EMD GP40 is a 4-axle diesel-electric road switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between November 1965 and December 1971...
- SD10
An EMD SD7 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between February 1952 and November 1953. Power was provided by an EMD 567B 16-cylinder engine which generated ....
(ex-Soo Line, ex-Milwaukee Road, né Milwaukee Road SD7)
- GP39-2
An EMD GP39-2 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1974 and 1984. 239 examples of this locomotive were built for American railroads. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP39-2 was an upgraded GP39...
- E8A
The EMD E8 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, or E8A, was manufactured from August, 1949 to December, 1953, and 449 were produced – 446 for U.S., and 3 for Canada...
(bought for joint Canadian Pacific / Boston and Maine RailroadThe Boston and Maine Corporation , known as the Boston and Maine Railroad until 1964, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century...
operations in VermontVermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
)
- GMD
General Motors Diesel was a Canadian railway diesel locomotive manufacturer.-History:General Motors Diesel, Limited, was created in 1949 as the Canadian subsidiary of the Electro Motive Division of General Motors located in the United States...
- SD40-2
The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C locomotive produced by EMD from 1972 to 1989.The SD40-2 was first introduced in January 1972 as the mid-range offering in EMD's six-axle "Dash-2" series, competing against the GE U30C and the MLW M630...
- GP35
An EMD GP35 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between July 1963 and December 1965 and by General Motors Diesel between May 1964 and January 1966. Power was provided by an EMD 567D3A 16-cylinder engine which generated .Many railroads traded in Alco and...
- SW1200
An EMD SW1200 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and May 1966. Power was provided by an EMD 567C 12-cylinder engine which generated 1200 horsepower...
, 1200RSu, 1200RS
- SW1500
The EMD SW1500 was a diesel locomotive intended for switching service and built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between June 1966 and January 1974. 808 examples were constructed. It was closely related to the less powerful EMD SW1000 model, forming a line of switchers powered by the new...
- SW900
An EMD SW900 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between December 1953 and March 1969. Power was provided by an EMD 567C 8-cylinder engine that generated 900 horsepower...
- SW8
An EMD SW8 is a diesel shunting/switching locomotive manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between September 1950 and February 1954. Power is supplied by an EMD 567B 8-cylinder engine, for a total of ....
- SW9u
An EMD SW9 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between December 1950 and December 1953. Power was provided by an EMD 567B 12-cylinder engine, producing ....
- GP9
An EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division in the United States, and General Motors Diesel in Canada between January, 1954, and August, 1963. US production ended in December, 1959, while an additional thirteen units were built in Canada, including...
, GP9u, GP9R
- GP7u
The EMD GP7 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October, 1949 and May, 1954. Power was provided by an EMD 567B 16-cylinder engine which generated . The GP7 was offered both with and without control cabs, and...
- GP40
The EMD GP40 is a 4-axle diesel-electric road switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between November 1965 and December 1971...
, GP40-2An EMD GP40-2 is a 4-axle diesel road switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as part of its Dash 2 line between April 1972 and December 1986. Power was provided by an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine which generated 3000 horsepower .- Production :Standard GP40-2 production...
- GP38AC
An EMD GP38 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. Power was provided by an EMD 645 16-cylinder engine which generated ....
, 38-2
- GP39-2
An EMD GP39-2 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1974 and 1984. 239 examples of this locomotive were built for American railroads. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP39-2 was an upgraded GP39...
- FP7
The EMD FP7 was a , B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant, excepting locomotives destined for...
Au
- EMD FP9
The EMD FP9 was a , B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between February 1954 and December 1959 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division, and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant, except for Canadian orders, which...
A, F9B
- SW900M
An EMD SW900 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between December 1953 and March 1969. Power was provided by an EMD 567C 8-cylinder engine that generated 900 horsepower...
- F9B
The EMD F9 was a Diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1953 and May 1960 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors and General Motors Diesel . It succeeded the F7 model in GM-EMD's F-unit sequence. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant. The F9 was also...
- F7B
The EMD F7 was a Diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors and General Motors Diesel . It succeeded the F3 model in GM-EMD's F-unit sequence, and was replaced in turn by the F9. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La...
- SD40-2F
- EMD GP40-2
An EMD GP40-2 is a 4-axle diesel road switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as part of its Dash 2 line between April 1972 and December 1986. Power was provided by an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine which generated 3000 horsepower .- Production :Standard GP40-2 production...
(DM&E, ex-IC&E)
- EMD SD40-3 (DM&E, ex-IC&E, ex-I&M Rail Link)
- MLW
Montreal Locomotive Works was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883–1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company...
- FA-1
The ALCO FA was a family of B-B diesel locomotives designed to haul freight trains. The locomotives were built by a partnership of ALCO and GE in Schenectady, New York, between January 1946 and May 1959. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead FA and cabless booster FB models...
- FPA-2
- RSD-17
- RSD-8
- RSD-2
- RS-23
- Boosters
- C-424
- Hump Braking Unit (based on GP9)
- C-630M
- M-630
- S-3
The ALCO S-1 and S-3 were switcher diesel-electric locomotives produced by ALCO and their Canadian subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works . Basically, the two locomotives differed only in trucks, with the S-1 using ALCO's own Blunt trucks, and the S-3 riding on standard AAR type A switcher trucks...
- RS-10
The Montreal Locomotive Works RS-10 was a road switcher built for the Canadian market. It was essentially an ALCO RS-3 in a redesigned carbody. It retained the RS-3's 12-cylinder Alco 244 engine. MLW built 129 of these locomotives before the model was replaced by the MLW RS-18.-Original owners:...
- S-11m
- M-636
- M-640
- RS18, RS18u
- RSD-17
- CLC
The Canadian Locomotive Company, commonly referred to as CLC, was a Canadian manufacturer of railway locomotives located in Kingston, Ontario. Its works were located on Ontario Street and Gore Street on Kingston's waterfront....
- 44H44A1
- H16-44
The FM H-16-44 was a road switcher produced by Fairbanks-Morse from April 1950 – February 1963. The locomotive shared an identical platform and carbody with the predecessor Model FM H-15-44 , and were equipped with the same eight-cylinder opposed piston engine that had been...
- H24-66
-External links:* * * *...
- CFA16-4
- CFB16-4
- CPA16-4
- CPB16-4
- GE
GE Transportation, formerly known as GE Rail, is a division of General Electric. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation industries. It is based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Locomotives are assembled at the Erie plant, while engine...
- AC4400CW
The GE AC4400CW is a diesel-electric locomotive that was built by GE Transportation Systems between 1993 and 2004. It is similar to the Dash 9-44CW, but features AC traction motors instead of DC, with a separate inverter per motor. 2,598 examples of this locomotive were produced for North American...
- ES44AC
- Railpower Technologies
Railpower Technologies Corp. is a subsidiary of R.J. Corman Railroad Group that builds environmentally friendly hybrid and genset yard locomotives, founded by Frank Donnelly and Gerard Koldyk...
- GG20B (returned to Railpower)
- ALCO
The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to ALCO or Alco , was a builder of railroad locomotives in the United States.-Early history:...
- S-2
The ALCO S2 and S4 were switcher diesel locomotives produced by ALCO and Canadian licensee Montreal Locomotive Works . Basically, the two locomotives differed only in trucks, with the S-2 using ALCO's own Blunt trucks, and the S-4 riding on standard AAR type A switcher trucks. Both were powered...
- BLW
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
- DRS4-4-1000
- DS4-4-1000
The Baldwin DS-4-4-1000 were two models of four-axle diesel-electric switching locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works between 1946 and 1951. The first models was powered by an 8-cylinder normally aspirated prime mover, but from 1948, a change was made to the second model powered by a...
Rolling stock
- 1655 locomotives
A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...
- 1000 stand alone double stack well cars
- 3100 high-capacity covered hopper cars—grain and fertilizer
- 2897 gondolas
- 474—steel and concentrate
- 1553—mill gondola (primarily used in scrap metal service)
- 306—open coil gondola
- 531—covered coil gondola
- 33—covered flat-bottom gondola
- 1250 high-capacity aluminum coal cars
- 375 light-weight aluminum multi-level cars
- 175 high-capacity traverse coil steel cars
- 620 62-foot high capacity box cars
CPR also has a fleet of 50 feet (15.2 m) boxcars, insulated boxcars, centrebeam flatcars, 86 feet (26.2 m) auto parts service boxcars, regular flat cars, and a fleet of tank cars.
Major facilities
CP owns a large number of large yards and repair shops across their system, which are used for many operations ranging from
intermodalIntermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation , without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damages and...
terminals to
classification yardA classification yard or marshalling yard is a railroad yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railroad cars on to one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill...
s. Below are some examples of these.
Active hump yards
Hump yardsA classification yard or marshalling yard is a railroad yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railroad cars on to one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill...
work by using a small hill over which cars are pushed, before being released down a slope and switched automatically into cuts of cars, ready to be made into outbound trains. CP's active humps include:
- Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, 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...
– 168 acre (0.67987248 km²) Alyth YardCPR Alyth Yard is a Class 1 railway facility located in the neighbourhood of Alyth, southeast of downtown Calgary, Alberta. One of Canadian Pacific Railway's main marshalling yards in Canada, it primarily serves as a hump classification yard and in addition has rail car repair shops and diesel...
; handles 2200 cars daily
- Chicago
Chicago 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...
, IllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
– Bensenville Yard
- Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
– Pig's Eye Yard
- 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...
, 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....
– St. Luc Yard; active since the 1940s.
- 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...
, 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....
– Toronto YardCPR Toronto Yard is a facility located in northeast Toronto, Ontario, Canada, often incorrectly referred to as Agincourt Yard because it is located in Agincourt, a neighbourhood of Scarborough....
(also known as "Toronto Freight Yard or Agincourt Yard"); opened in 1964
- Winnipeg
Winnipeg 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...
, 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...
– Rugby Yard (also known as "Weston Yard")
See also
- Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Service
The Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Service, also known as the British Columbia Coast Steamships , was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway which began operating Pacific coastal shipping routes in the late 19th century...
- Canadian Pacific Railway Lake and River Service
The Canadian Pacific River Lake and River Service, also known as the British Columbia Lake and River Service, was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway which began operating passenger and cargo shipping routes along British Columbia's inland waters during the late 19th century.-CPR overview:In...
- Canadian Pacific Railway Police Service
The Canadian Pacific Police Service is a private police force enforcing safety and policing along Canadian Pacific Railway properties and rail lines in Canada and the United States, including limited sections of the Milton line of GO Transit in the Greater Toronto Area.The current head of the CP...
- Canadian Pacific Railway Upper Lake Service
The Canadian Pacific Railway Upper Lake Service, also known as the Canadian Pacific Railway Upper Lake Steamships, was a division of Canadian Pacific Railway which began operating passenger and cargo shipping routes in the Great Lakes during the late 19th century.-CPR overview:In 1884, CPR began...
- Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 21
Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 21 was a domestic scheduled flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada via Prince George, Fort St. John, Fort Nelson and Watson Lake on Thursday, July 8, 1965. The Douglas DC-6B plane crashed near 100 Mile House, British Columbia,...
- Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402
On March 4, 1966, Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 , struck the approach lights and a seawall during a night landing attempt in poor visibility at Tokyo International Airport in Japan. Of the 62 passengers and 10 crew, only 8 passengers survived...
- Canadian Pacific Building (London)
The Canadian Pacific Building at 62–65 Trafalgar Square is an office building in Westminster in London, England. It was once the London offices of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and its affiliated steamship line , hotel chain , and other subsidiary companies...
- Canadian Pacific Building (New York City)
- Canadian Pacific Building (Toronto)
Further reading
External links