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Canadian Pacific Railway

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

   Canadian Pacific Railway
   logo
   System map
   Canadian Pacific system map
   Reporting marks CP, CPAA, CPI
   Locale Canada with branches to US cities Chicago, Minneapolis and New
   York City
   Dates of operation 1881 – present
   Track gauge 4  ft 8½  in (1435  mm) ( standard gauge)
   Headquarters Calgary, Alberta
   An eastbound CPR freight at Stoney Creek Bridge in Rogers Pass. Photo
   by David R. Spencer
   Enlarge
   An eastbound CPR freight at Stoney Creek Bridge in Rogers Pass. Photo
   by David R. Spencer

   The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR; AAR reporting marks CP, CPAA, CPI),
   known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a Canadian Class I railway
   operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. Its rail network
   stretches from Vancouver to Montreal, and also serves major cities in
   the United States such as Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. Its
   headquarters are in Calgary, Alberta.

   The railway was originally built between eastern Canada and British
   Columbia between 1881 and 1885 (connecting with Ottawa Valley and
   Georgian Bay area lines built earlier), fulfilling a promise extended
   to British Columbia when it entered Confederation in 1871. It was
   Canada's first transcontinental railway. Now primarily a freight
   railway, the CPR was for two decades the only practical means of long
   distance passenger transport in most regions of Canada, and was
   instrumental in the settlement and development of Western Canada. Its
   primary passenger services were eliminated in 1986 after being assumed
   by VIA Rail Canada in 1978. A beaver 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
   damnation for over 120 years, the CPR remains an indisputable icon of
   Canadian nationalism.

History

Before the Canadian Pacific Railway, 1871-1881

   Canada's very existence depended on the successful completion of a
   major civil engineering project, via. the creation of a
   transcontinental railway. Creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway was
   a task originally undertaken for a combination of reasons by the
   Conservative government of prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald.
   British Columbia had insisted upon a national railway as a condition
   for joining the Confederation of Canada. The government thus promised
   to build a railway linking the Pacific province to the eastern
   provinces within ten 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, manufacturing interests in
   Quebec and Ontario desired access to sources of raw materials and
   markets in Canada's west.
   Sir John A. Macdonald
   Enlarge
   Sir John A. Macdonald

   The first obstacle to its construction was economic. The logical route
   for a railway serving Western Canada would be to go through the
   American Midwest and the city of Chicago, Illinois. In addition to the
   obvious difficulty of building a railroad through the Canadian Rockies,
   an entirely Canadian route would require crossing 1,600 km (1,000
   miles) of rugged terrain of the barren Canadian Shield and muskeg of
   Northern Ontario. 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,
   swayed by bribes in the so-called Pacific Scandal, granted federal
   contracts to Hugh Allan'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 Liberal prime minister, Alexander
   Mackenzie, began construction of segments of the railway as a public
   enterprise under the supervision of the Department of Public Works. The
   Thunder Bay branch linking Lake Superior 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 Moody would be the terminus of the transcontinental
   railway, and announced that the railway would follow the Fraser and
   Thompson rivers between Port Moody and Kamloops. In 1879, the federal
   government floated bonds in London and called for tenders to construct
   the 206 km (128 mile) section of the railway from Yale, British
   Columbia to Savona's Ferry on Kamloops Lake. The contract was awarded
   to Andrew Onderdonk, 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 $25,000,000 (approximately $625,000,000 in
   modern Canadian dollars) in credit from the Canadian government and a
   grant of 25,000,000 acres (100,000 km²) 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 Stephen, James J. Hill, Duncan McIntyre, Richard B. Angus, and
   John S. Kennedy. Donald A. Smith and Norman Kittson were unofficial
   silent partners with a significant financial interest. On February 15,
   1881, legislation confirming the contract received royal assent, and
   the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was formally incorporated the next
   day.

Building the railway, 1881-1885

   It was assumed that the railway would travel though the rich "Fertile
   Belt" of the North Saskatchewan River valley and cross the Rocky
   Mountains via the Yellowhead Pass, a route advocated 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 Triangle in Saskatchewan and through Kicking Horse Pass over
   the Field Hill. 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 Mountains, as at the time it was not known whether a route even
   existed. The job of finding a pass was assigned to a surveyor named
   Major Albert Bowman Rogers. The CPR promised him a cheque 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 found the
   pass on May 29, 1881, and true to its word, the CPR named the pass "
   Rogers Pass" 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 controlled by
   the Blackfoot First Nation. This difficulty was overcome when the
   missionary Father Albert Lacombe persuaded the Blackfoot chief Crowfoot
   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 agriculture. The CPR may have placed too
   much reliance on a report from naturalist John Macoun, who had crossed
   the prairies 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 miles) west of the 1,625 metre (5,330 ft) high
   summit, the Kicking Horse River drops 350 metres (1,150 ft). The steep
   drop would force the cash-strapped CPR to build a 7 km (4.5 mile) long
   stretch of track with a very steep 4.5% 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%
   gradient. However, this route was far more direct than one through the
   Yellowhead Pass, and saved hours for both passengers and freight. This
   section of track was the CPR's legendary Big Hill. Safety switches were
   installed at several points, the speed limit for descending trains was
   set at 10 km per hour (6 mph), and special locomotives were ordered.
   Despite these measures, several serious runaways still occurred. 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.
   Sir William Cornelius Van Horne
   Enlarge
   Sir William Cornelius Van Horne

   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 Horne, 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
   (500 miles) of main line built in 1882. Floods delayed the start of the
   construction season, but over 672 km (417 miles) of main line, as well
   as various sidings and branch lines, were built that year. The Thunder
   Bay branch (west from Fort William) 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 Superior.

   Many thousands of navvies worked on the railway. Many were European
   immigrants. In British Columbia, the CPR hired workers from China,
   nicknamed 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 two and a half months of back-breaking
   labour, they could net as little as $16. Chinese navvies in British
   Columbia made only between $0.75 and $1.25 a day, not including
   expenses, leaving barely anything to send home. They did the most
   dangerous construction jobs, such as working with explosives. 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. Many spent
   years in lonely, sad and often poor condition. 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.

   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
   $22,500,000 in loans to the CPR. The bill received royal assent on
   March 6, 1884.
   Donald Alexander Smith drives the Last Spike
   Enlarge
   Donald Alexander Smith drives the Last Spike

   In March 1885, the North-West Rebellion broke out in Saskatchewan. Van
   Horne, in Ottawa at the time, suggested to the government that the CPR
   could transport troops to Fort Qu'Appelle in eleven 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
   $5,000,000 loan. This money was desperately needed by the CPR. On
   November 7, 1885 the Last Spike was driven at Craigellachie, British
   Columbia, making good on the original promise. Four days earlier, the
   last spike of the Lake Superior section was driven in just west of
   Jackfish, Ontario. While the railway was completed four years after the
   original 1881 deadline, it was completed over 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 City to St. Thomas, Ontario by 1885, and had
   launched a fleet of Great Lakes ships to link its terminals. The CPR
   had effected purchases and long-term leases of several railways through
   an associated railway company, the Ontario and Quebec Railway (O&Q).
   The O&Q built a line between Perth, Ontario and Toronto (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, it acquired the Toronto,
   Hamilton and Buffalo Railway, giving it a link to upstate New York,
   Lake Erie and the Erie Canal.

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. 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 Station, located at Berri Street and Notre Dame Street on
   June 28, 1886 at 8:00PM and arrived at Port Moody on July 4, 1886 at
   noon. 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.
   First Transcontinental Train arrives in Port Moody
   Enlarge
   First Transcontinental Train arrives in Port Moody

   By that time, however, the CPR had decided to move its western terminus
   from Port Moody to a hamlet that 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. Marie
   where the CPR connected with the American railway system and its own
   steamships. That same year, work was started on a line from London,
   Ontario to the American border at Windsor, Ontario. That line opened on
   June 12, 1890. The CPR also acquired several small lines east of
   Montreal; it also leased the New Brunswick Railway for 999 years, and
   built the International Railway of Maine, connecting Montreal with
   Saint John, New Brunswick in 1889. The connection with Saint John on
   the Atlantic coast made the CPR the first truly transcontinental
   railway company and permitted trans-Atlantic cargo and passenger
   services to continue year-round when sea ice in the Gulf of St.
   Lawrence closed the port of Montreal during the winter months. CP also
   acquired a line through eastern Quebec to Portland, Maine.

   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
   president of the CPR, asked for government aid, and the government
   agreed to provide around $3.6 million to construct a railway from
   Lethbridge, Alberta through Crowsnest Pass to the south shore of
   Kootenay Lake, 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 grain products and westbound rates on certain "settlers'
   effects" at the 1897 level. Although temporarily suspended during World
   War I, it was not until 1983 that the "Crow Rate" 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.

The CPR and The Colonization of Canada

   One of the CPR's land offerings
   Enlarge
   One of the CPR's land offerings

   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 25,000,000 acres (100,000 km²).
   Proving already to be a very resourceful organization, Canadian Pacific
   began an intense campaign to bring immigrants to Canada.

   CP 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 that was purchased from the CP railway. Land was sold
   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 as they often would wander off and be left
   behind. The owners of the CPR knew that not only were they creating a
   nation, but also a source of economy for their company.

1901-1928

   During the first decade of the twentieth 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 Ontario
   took a circuitous route through Eastern Ontario.

   Several operational improvements were also made to the railway in
   Western Canada. In 1909 the CPR completed two significant engineering
   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 Tunnels, reducing the grade to 2.2% from 4.5%. The Spiral
   Tunnels opened in August. On November 3, 1909, the Lethbridge Viaduct
   over the Oldman River valley at Lethbridge, Alberta 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 Pass, which was prone to avalanches,
   with the Connaught Tunnel, an eight km (5 mile) long tunnel under Mount
   Macdonald that was, at the time of its opening, the longest railway
   tunnel in the Western hemisphere.

   The CPR acquired several smaller railways via long-term leases in 1912.
   On January 3, 1912, the CPR acquired the Dominion Atlantic Railway, a
   railway that ran in western Nova Scotia. This acquisition gave the CPR
   a connection to Halifax, a significant port on the Atlantic Ocean. The
   Dominion Atlantic connected to the CPR at Saint John with its own car
   ferry service across the Bay of Fundy. DAR steamships also provided
   connections for passengers and cargo between Yarmouth, Boston and New
   York. On July 1, 1912, the CPR acquired the Esquimalt and Nanaimo
   Railway, a railway on Vancouver Island that also connected to the CPR
   by car ferry. The CPR also acquired the Quebec Central Railway on
   December 14, 1912.

   During the late 19th century, the railway undertook an ambitious
   program of hotel construction, building the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec
   City, the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, the Banff Springs Hotel, 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.

   When World War I 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 Railways (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 Depression, 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.

   One highlight of the 1930s, both for the railway and for Canada, was
   the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Canada in 1939, 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 II began. As it had done in World War I, the
   CPR devoted much of its resources to the war effort. It retooled its
   Angus Shops in Montreal to produce Valentine tanks, 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 Canada changed.
   Where railways had previously provided almost universal freight and
   passenger services, cars, trucks, and airplanes 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 Canadian, 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 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
   Rail, 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 Limited 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 Multimark logo that could be used for each of its
   operations.

1979-present

   In 1984 CP Rail commenced construction of the Mount Macdonald Tunnel to
   augment the Connaught Tunnel under the Selkirk Mountains. The first
   revenue train passed through the tunnel in 1988. At 14.7 km (9 miles),
   it is the longest tunnel in the Americas.
   Soo Line 6022, an EMD SD 60, pulls a train through Wisconsin Dells, WI,
   June 20, 2004.
   Enlarge
   Soo Line 6022, an EMD SD 60, pulls a train through Wisconsin Dells, WI,
   June 20, 2004.

   During the 1980s, the Soo Line, in which CP Rail still owned a
   controlling interest, underwent several changes. It acquired the
   Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway 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 10% contoling interests of the Toronto,
   Hamilton and Buffalo Railway (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 Lakes region,
   including much of the original Soo Line, were spun off into a new
   railway, the Wisconsin Central, which was subsequently purchased by CN.
   Influenced by the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1989 which
   liberalized trade 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 Railroad 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 lines, including all of its lines east of Montreal
   (including the entire line to the port of Saint John), were either sold
   to short lines or abandoned. 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, AB.

   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
   subsidiary company, the St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway, was created to
   operate its money-losing lines in eastern North America, covering
   Quebec, Southern and Eastern Ontario, trackage rights to Chicago,
   Illinois, as well as the Delaware and Hudson Railway 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 reamalgamated with its parent on January
   1, 2001.

   In 2001, the CPR's parent company, Canadian Pacific Limited, spun out
   its five subsidiaries, including the CPR, into independent companies.

   On October 31, 2005, CPR announced that Fred Green would succeed Robert
   J. Ritchie as president of the railroad effective November 1. Ritchie
   continued as CEO of the corporation until his retirement on May 5,
   2006.

Freight trains

   CPR caboose on display at Brockville, Ontario
   Enlarge
   CPR caboose on display at Brockville, Ontario

   Over half of the Canadian Pacific Railway's freight traffic is in coal,
   grain, and intermodal 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 CP's wheat shipments through Fort
   William (Thunder Bay). It also ships automotive parts and automobiles,
   sulfur, fertilizers, 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 CP Rail. Coal
   is shipped in unit trains from coal mines in the mountains, most
   notably Sparwood, British Columbia to terminals at Roberts Bank and
   North Vancouver, from where it is then shipped to Japan. 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,
   Ontario (the former Fort William) and Vancouver, where it is then
   shipped overseas. 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 William 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.

   In 1952, the CPR became the first North American railway to introduce
   intermodal or "piggyback" freight service, where truck trailers are
   carried on flat cars. In 1999, the CPR introduced a short-haul
   intermodal service between Montreal and Detroit, called Expressway or
   The Iron Highway.

Passenger trains

   Until the end of World War II, the train was the primary mode of
   long-distance transportation in Canada. Among the many types of people
   who rode CPR trains were new immigrants heading for the prairies,
   troops heading to war (especially during the two World Wars) and upper
   class tourists. It also custom-built many of its passenger cars at its
   CPR Angus Shops so as to be able to meet the demands of the upper
   class. The CPR also had a line of Great Lakes ships integrated into is
   transcontinental service. From 1885 until 1912, these ships linked Owen
   Sound on Georgian Bay to Fort William. After 1912, these ships, the
   Assiniboia, Keewatin and Manitoba, were headquartered in Port McNicol,
   ON. Travellers went by train from Toronto to Georgian Bay, then
   travelled by ship to link with The Canadian and The Dominion at the
   Canadian Lakehead. After World War II, the trains and ships carried
   automobiles as well as passengers. The service was discontinued in
   1965.

   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. On November 9, 1953, the CPR introduced
   Budd Rail Diesel Cars, called "Dayliners" by the CPR, on some of its
   branch lines. 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 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
   Columbia and Crowsnest Pass 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 Rail, a new federal Crown corporation that was now
   responsible for intercity passenger services in Canada.

   In addition to inter-city passenger services, the CPR also provided
   commuter rail services in Montreal. CP Rail introduced Canada's first
   bi-level passenger cars here in 1970. On October 1, 1982, the Montreal
   Urban Community Transit Commission (MUCTC) assumed responsibility for
   the commuter services previously provided by CP Rail.

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 Château Frontenac
   in Quebec, Château Laurier in Ottawa, Royal York in Toronto, Minaki
   Lodge in Minaki Ontario, Hotel Vancouver, Empress Hotel in Victoria and
   the Banff Springs Hotel and Chateau Lake Louise in the Canadian
   Rockies. Several of the hotels were acquired from the competing
   Canadian National. The hotels retain their Canadian Pacific heritage
   but are no longer operated by the railroad. In 1998 Canadian Pacific
   Hotels acquired Fairmont Hotels, an American company, and the combined
   corporation operates the historic Canadian properties as well as the
   Fairmont's U.S. properties.

Special trains

Silk trains

   Between the 1890s and the 1940s, the CPR transported raw silk cocoons
   from Vancouver, where they had been shipped to from the Orient, to silk
   mills in New York and New Jersey. A silk train could carry several
   million dollars worth of silk, so they had their own armed guards. To
   avoid train robberies and so minimise insurance costs, they travelled
   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 would be put in sidings to
   make the silk trains' trip faster. At the end of World War II, the
   invention of nylon made silk less valuable so the silk trains died out.

Funeral trains

   Funeral train of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald
   Enlarge
   Funeral train of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald

   Funeral trains 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 Minister Sir
   John A. Macdonald ran from Ottawa to Kingston, Ontario. The train
   consisted of five heavily draped passenger cars and was pulled by 4-4-0
   No. 283. On September 14, 1915, the funeral train of former CPR
   president Sir William Cornelius Van Horne ran from Montreal to Joliet,
   Illinois, pulled by 4-6-2 No. 2213. The Canadian was used as funeral
   train for former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in 1979.
   King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Hope, British Columbia
   Enlarge
   King George VI and Queen Elizabeth at Hope, British Columbia

Royal trains

   The CPR ran a number of trains that transported members of the royal
   family when they visited Canada. These trains transported royalty
   through Canada's beautiful 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 also the last one it would run, in 1939.

   In 1939 the CPR had the honour of giving King George VI and Queen
   Elizabeth a rail tour of Canada, from Quebec City to Vancouver. This
   was the first visit to Canada by a reigning Monarch. The steam
   locomotive used to pull the train was numbered 2850, a Hudson ( 4-6-4)
   built by Montreal Locomotive Works. Specially painted in silver and
   blue, the locomotive ran 3,224 miles (5189 km) 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 Hudson" for these
   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 train trip from Los Angeles to Chicago, was done on the CPR,
   mainly in the Alberta area with station footage at Toronto's Union
   Station. 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 Québec but the
   second unit has been scrapped.

Holiday Train

   Starting in 1999, the CPR ran a Holiday Train along its main line
   during the months of November and December. The train celebrates the
   Christmas season and collects donations for community food banks. The
   holiday train also provides publicity for the CPR and a few of its
   customers.

   Since its launch in 1999, the Holiday Train program has raised more
   than $2.3 million CAD and 506 tons of food for North American food
   banks. All donations collected in a community remain in that community
   for distribution.

Royal Canadian Pacific

   On June 7, 2000, the CPR inaugurated the Royal Canadian Pacific, a
   luxury excursion service that operates between the months of June and
   September. It operates along a 1,050 km (650 mile) route from Calgary,
   through the Columbia River Valley and Crowsnest Pass, and returning
   back to Calgary. 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 2816 was redesignated "Empress 2816" following a
   30-month restoration that cost in excess of one million dollars. 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.

Locomotives

Steam locomotives

   In the CPR's early years, it made extensive use of American 4-4-0 steam
   locomotives. Use was also made of 4-6-0 and 2-8-0 locomotives,
   particularly in the mountains.

   Starting in the 20th century, the CPR used a large number of 4-6-2
   Pacific locomotives and 4-6-4 Hudson locomotives, which were used in
   both freight and passenger service. The CPR bought Pacifics between
   1906 and 1948. The CPR also built its own locomotives at its Angus
   shops in Montreal. The CPR's best-known Hudsons were the class H1 Royal
   Hudson, semi- streamlined locomotives that were given their name
   because one of their class hauled the Royal Train carrying King George
   VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1939 across Canada without change or failure.
   That locomotive, No. 2850, is preserved in the Exporail exhibit hall of
   the Canadian Railway Museum in St. Constant (Delson) Quebec. One of the
   class, No. 2860, was restored by the British Columbia government and
   used in excursion service on the British Columbia Railway between 1974
   and 1999.
   CPR Selkirk locomotive No. 5915
   Enlarge
   CPR Selkirk locomotive No. 5915

   In 1929, the CPR received its first 2-10-4 Selkirk locomotives, 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.

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 Company (Alco) starting with five
   model S-2 yard switchers in 1943 and followed by further orders. In
   1949 Alco FA1 road locomotives (8 A and 4 B units)and 5 RS-2 road
   switchers were all delivered. In 1948 Montreal Locomotive Works began
   production of Alco designs. In 1949, the CPR acquired 13 Baldwin
   locomotives for its isolated Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, and
   Vancouver Island was quickly dieselised. Following that successful
   experiment, the CPR started to dieselise its main network.
   Dieselisation was completed eleven years later, with its last steam
   locomotive running on November 6, 1960. The CPR's first-generation
   locomotives were mostly made by General Motors Diesel and Montreal
   Locomotive Works, with some made by the Canadian Locomotive Company.

   CP was the first railway in North America to pioneer AC traction
   diesel-electric locomotives, in 1984. In 1995 CP turned to General
   Electric GE Transportation Systems 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
   2004, 507 of the CPR's 1,622 locomotives are AC.

The Canadian Pacific Railway in Canadian culture

   The construction of this railway is celebrated in the popular song by
   Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian Railroad Trilogy. The story of the railway's
   construction was most famously told in popular history books by Pierre
   Berton, The National Dream and The Last Spike, which were adapted into
   a popular CBC television series called The National Dream. The railway
   is also the subject of a song by Stompin' Tom Connors, "The Flying
   CPR".

   The formation of the Canadian Pacific Railway was voted as the second
   most important event in forming Canada as a country by a survey of
   Canadians in 2004.

   The Arrogant Worms, in their song " The Last Saskatchewan Pirate",
   referenced that before the narrator became a pirate, he was a farmer
   with land along the CP Line.

Rolling Stock

     * 1655 locomotives
     * 1000 stand alone double stack well cars
     * 3100 high capacity covered hopper cars - grain and fertilizer
     * 3067 gondolas
          + 437 - steel and concentrate
          + 1756 - mill gondola (primarily used in scrap metal service)
          + 287 - open coil gondola
          + 503 - covered coil gondola
          + 84 - covered flat bottom gondola
     * 1250 high capacity aluminium coal cars
     * 375 light weight aluminium multi-level cars
     * 175 high capacity traverse coil steel cars
     * 620 62' high capacity box cars

Canadian CP Railway travel links

     * The Royal Canadian Pacific- Luxury Historic Rail Travel from
       Calgary to Vancouver
     * Canadian Pacific Hotels - Luxury Railway Hotels across Canada
     * Via Rail Canada- rail travel across Canada
     * Rocky Mountaineer- Luxury Train Travel from Jasper - Vancouver -
       Whistler - Quesnel - Jasper
     * Mara Train Station c.1892 - Converted Historic Train Station on
       historic Okanagan-Shuswap Railway CPR spur-line
     * Kamloops Heritage Railway - Kamloops, BC
     * Kettle Valley Steam Railway- Summerland, BC
     * Revelstoke Railway Museum - Revelstoke, BC
     * Three Valley Gap Railway Roundhouse- Three Valley Gap, BC
     * Last Spike at Craigellachie
     * The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel - Cranbrook, BC., which houses a
       major collection of CPR historic railcars

   Major railroad systems in New England, pre- 1930s
   Bangor and Aroostook - Boston and Albany ( NYC) - Boston and Maine -
   Canadian Pacific - Central Vermont ( CN) - Grand Trunk ( CN) - Maine
   Central - New Haven - Rutland

           Current (operating) Class I railroads of North America
   United States: AMTK, BNSF, CSXT, GTW, KCS, NS, SOO, UP - Canada: CN,
   CP, VIA - Mexico: FXE, TFM, KCSM
   See also: List of USA/Canada/Mexico Class I Railroads, List of
   USA/Canadian Class II Railroads, Class III railroad, Class 2 Railraods
   in Canada,
   Short-line railroad, List of United States railroads, List of Canadian
   railroads, list of Mexican railroads

   This is a featured article. Click here for more information.

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