Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE
TRANSCONTINENTAL
RAILROAD
On July 1, 1867, Canadian Confedera-
tion brought together three colonies
in eastern British North America to
form a new country. Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick were to be linked via
railroad to Quebec and Ontario. Then
in 1870, Manitoba was formed. British
Columbia, on the West Coast, would
join Confederation in 1871, with the
promise that a transcontinental railroad
would be built within 10 years to con-
nect it to eastern Canada.
5
An old CPR steam locomotive.
© Archives Canada; PA-143158
In 1880, with the 10-year deadline rapidly approaching, a decision
was made to use the American method in the Rockies: lay as much
track as fast as possible and hire Chinese immigrants to do the work.
Construction along the steep, slippery gorges was particularly diffi cult,
and many hundreds of workers lost their lives.
The Canadian Pacifi c Railway Company (CPR) was formed on Feb-
ruary 16, 1881, with George Stephen as its fi rst president. General
manager William Cornelius Van Horne supervised work across the
Prairies and the Rockies. He eventually asked Thomas G. Shaugh-
nessy to join him in managing the company to complete the work.
One of the heads of the CPR after 1883, Donald A. Smith, ceremon-
ially drove the last spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia on Nov-
ember 7, 1885. The fi rst train left Dalhousie Station in Montréal on
June 28, 1886. With its 150 passengers, it arrived at Port Moody Sta-
tion (20km from Vancouver: the fi rst train would reach the city's new
station the following year) on July 4, 1886, after travelling 4,655km in
139 hours. Shortly thereafter, the West Coast was linked to the East
Coast: with Shaughnessy's help, in 1889 Van Horne succeeded in
building the railroad from coast to coast, through the American state
of Maine to Saint John, New Brunswick.
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