The Canadian Pacific Railway was formed to physically unite Canada and Canadians from coast to coast. At CP we take great pride in our past and look to the future with the same boldness, ambition and innovation that drove the creation of the railway.
Scroll through the timelines to learn how the railway played an integral part in the building of Canada. With interesting facts and famous photos, the proud heritage of the railway is brought to life.
building the railway
Sturgeon Falls, ON, circa mid to late 1880s. Ref: A20856
CPR steam locomotive no.346 and freight train at Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.
Sir William Van Horne. Ref: NS5661
Sir William Cornelius Van Horne (1843 – 1915) is most famous for overseeing the construction of the CPR. This in itself was a great achievement, but just one of the ways Van Horne left his mark on the railway and Canada. Van Horne became one of the CPR’s first Vice Presidents in 1884. Four years later, he became the President of CPR, a job he held until his retirement in 1899. Van Horne was appointed Chairman of CPR’s Board of Directors that same year, a position he held until his resignation in 1910.
North of Lake Superior, ON, 1885. Ref: A4406
Contractor RG Reid’s construction crews clear tons of rock for the mainline at Dougherty’s Cut on Lake Superior’s rugged north shore in 1885.
North Shore of Lake Superior, circa 1885. Ref: A16611
Steam shovel #75 at a ballast pit on the north shore of Ontario’s Lake Superior during construction of the mainline.
Near Kenora, ON, 1881-82. Ref: NS2365
A crew completes the work on a trestle near Rat Portage (near Kenora, ON) in the winter of 1881-82. At that time, the Government of Canada was responsible for construction of the transcontinental railway on the difficult terrain from the lake-head to Winnipeg, MB.
west of Sudbury, ON, 1884. Ref: NS19990
A mechanical tracklayer of the type used in the construction of the CPR main line west of Sudbury, ON in the summer of 1884.
High Falls, ON, 1884. Ref: NS3771
The supply store at High Falls, about 39 kilometers west of Sudbury, ON, provided material for the rail gangs crossing the rocky and wooded Laurentian Shield in 1884.
Heron Bay, ON, 1885. Ref: NS14886
An eighty foot-high and six hundred foot-long temporary pole timber trestle spanning the Pic River, east of Heron Bay in northern Ontario, in 1885. The Laurentian Shield has many major river crossings, and rather than wait for each bridge to be designed and built out of steel, temporary bridges such as this one were used. This allowed the railway to continue moving supplies and men forward for the track construction.
Chapleau, ON, 1885. Ref: A18087
A former first class coach served as a temporary dispatcher’s office when train service through Chapleau, ON began in 1885.
Winnipeg, MB, 1877. Ref: NS17756
The first railway rolling stock to appear on the Canadian Prairies arrived in Winnipeg on October 9th, 1877 after being barged 226 miles down the Red River from Fargo, North Dakota. Purchased by Joseph Whitehead, the government contractor responsible for building the CPR line between Emerson and St. Boniface, the shipment included “CPR” locomotive No.1, soon to be christened the “Countess of Dufferin”.
Gull Lake, SK, circa 1890's. Ref: NS17161
For centuries, the First Nations people of the Plains hunted the plentiful herds of buffalo as a source of food, shelter and clothing. With the completion of the railway and the dramatic increase in the numbers of settlers, the buffalo was hunted almost to the point of extinction. For a time in the late 19th century, First Nations people and Métis collected buffalo bones at locations such as Gull Lake, SK, selling them by the ton for shipment to the manufacturing centres in the east where they were converted into phosphate for fertilizers.
Canmore, AB, circa 1880's. Ref: NS13926
The Mountain House at Canmore, AB was one of several independently owned dining halls situated along the CPR’s rail line that offered less expensive meals than those available on dining cars.
Calgary, AB, 1884. Ref: NS4811
Passengers and crew at the Calgary, AB station where in 1884 regularly scheduled rail service began operating as far as BC’s Continental Divide.
Andrew Onderdonk, circa 1880.
Andrew Onderdonk (1848 – 1905) was an American engineer and construction contractor who worked on several major projects in the West, including the San Francisco seawall and the CPR.
After his work for the CPR, Onderdonk won additional contracts for railway and canal construction in the U.S. and eastern Canada. In 1895 he received a contract from the Canadian government to build sections of the Trent-Severn Waterway in Ontario.
Image courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives, Major Mathews collection, Item # Port P587.02
Thompson River, BC, circa 1880's. Ref: NS8565
In 1882, the stern wheeler Skuzzy was built by CP contractor Andrew Onderdonk to deliver construction material to the advancing rail head along BC’s Fraser River.
Fraser Valley, BC, 1883. Ref: NS13561-2
As part of Andrew Onderdonk’s contract with the Federal Government, tracklayers built the CPR’s mainline through BC’s lower Fraser Valley in 1883.
Cisco, BC, 1886. Ref: A11416
A ballast train heads west on the 528 foot-long bridge which spanned the Fraser River near Cisco, BC in 1886.
Keefers, BC. Ref: A1724
To obtain adequate supplies of gravel and sand for track construction and repair, the CPR established numerous ballast pits along its line. This pit was located along the Fraser River near Keefers, BC.
Kamloops Lake, BC, 1885. Ref: A15882
In 1885, a ballast train crew, from Andrew Onderdonk’s government contract to build the rail line from Port Moody to Savonas, BC, poses at Kamloops Lake.
Field, BC. Ref: A4200
A pusher locomotive waits on a safety track near the foot of BC’s Mount Stephen near Field, BC. The safety tracks were a necessary precaution against runaway trains descending the original, steep 4.5% “Big Hill” mainline grade.
Moberly House, BC, 1884. Ref: NS1341
An engineering survey party poses at Moberly House in BC’s Columbia River Valley in the fall of 1884. They were working on the 233-mile gap in the CPR mainline between Stephen and Savonas, BC.
Mountain Creek, BC, 1885. Ref: A4215
Requiring over two million board feet of lumber to build and at 164’ in height and 1,068’ long, no other structure on the original mainline compared in size to the Mountain Creek Bridge.
Donald, BC, 1885. Ref: A4209
A train heads westward out of the yard at Donald, BC during construction of the mainline.
Alberta Bowman Rogers. Ref: NS3997
Albert Bowman Rogers (1829 – 1889), commonly known as Major A.B. Rogers, was an American surveyor now best remembered for his discovery of the Rogers Pass in the Selkirk Mountains of BC in 1882.
Rogers Pass, BC, 1883. Ref: NS431
An engineering party camped in BC’s Rogers Pass near the summit of the Selkirk Range in the year 1883.
Rogers Pass is known for its winter snowfall, which amounts to about 10 metres per year. Because of steep mountains, avalanches are very common in winter. 31 snow sheds with a total length of about 6.5 km were built to protect the railway from the avalanches.
near Rogers Pass, BC, 1886. Ref: NS18445
Heavy snowfall and the threat of avalanches required 31 snowsheds to be built over a distance of about 16 miles of track through BC’s Rogers Pass beginning in 1886.
Rogers Pass, BC, 1885. Ref: NS4742
In 1885, Rogers Pass station was located one mile east of BC’s Rogers Pass summit. A group of men can be seen lined up at the rear of a conductor’s van-turned pay car. The false-fronted shacks offered them everything from cigars to laundry.
Rogers Pass, BC, 1885. Ref: A4224
In the summer of 1885, during the construction of the mainline, a supply train laden with wooden ties leaves Rogers Pass in BC.
Illecillewaet, BC, 1886. Ref: A17566
Well before safety rules that included hard hats, steel-toed boots and safety glasses, a westbound Pacific Express train crew proudly poses on the “Loops” at the first crossing of the Illecillewaet in BC.
Field, BC, circa 1886. Ref: A18885
Located on the CPR main line at the western entrance of Rogers Pass, the Glacier House was the most popular of the three small mountain hotels established by the company in 1886 at Field, Glacier and North Bend, BC, to provide meals for train passengers and lodging for those wishing to stop over and admire the scenery.
Craigellachie, BC, 1885. Ref: NS1960
On November 7, 1885, a group of Canadian Pacific officials and employees gathered in Eagle Pass in British Columbia to witness one of the most significant events in Canadian history. At 9:22 a.m. Pacific Time, Donald A. Smith, a member of the CPR syndicate and later Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, drove the last of the iron spikes in the Canadian Pacific Railway main line linking Eastern Canada and the Pacific Coast. Notable figures present on this historic day included: Frank Brothers, Construction Foreman; W.C. Van Horne, Vice-President; Sandford Fleming, Director; Henry J. Cambie, Supervising Engineer; James Ross, Manager of Construction and Major Rogers, Engineer.
Donald, BC, 1885. Ref: NS1340
Following the official driving of the last spike at Craigellachie that morning, a group of CPR employees staged their own last spike celebration near Donald, BC.
Port Arthur, ON, 1886. Ref: NS12756
The first transcontinental passenger train, decorated with flags, bunting and boughs, arrives from Montreal in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay, ON). Four days later, history was made when the train arrived at Port Moody, BC, on July 4, 1886
near Glacier Hotel, BC, 1886. Ref: A15515
On the first transcontinental train passenger in 1886, W.F. Salsbury, described the trestlework of the “Loops,” west of the Glacier Hotel, as being built “in a curious way … somewhat of the shape of the figure 8.”
Port Moody, BC, 1886. Ref: NS19991
At noon on July 4th, 1886, the first scheduled passenger train to cross Canada over the CPR’s recently completed line arrived “sharp on time” at Port Moody, BC, the company’s western–most terminus. The momentous journey began 139 hours earlier with the departure of the westbound “Pacific Express” from Montreal.
AB, 1891. Ref: NS7193
A rail gang poses atop over-sized garland-festooned boarding cars during construction of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway mainline in 1891.
Beaver River Canyon, BC, circa 1890's. Ref: A11370
As soon as the rail line was complete section crews, like the one captured here at BC’s Beaver River Canyon in the 1890s, played an essential role in maintaining the track in safe operating condition.
In 1886, the CPR had constructed a few small hotels to accommodate travellers, with the goal being to primarily provide meal service for passengers in the Rocky Mountains, where railway grades were too severe for the safe operation of heavy dining cars. They were also natural stopover points for weary travellers who needed a hotel room for the night on their travels.
tourism & recreation
North Bend, BC, 1886. Ref: A11413
Fraser Canyon House overlooked the Fraser River at North Bend, BC, and was one of three small hotel and dining halls erected by CPR in 1886-87.
near Rogers Pass, BC, 1887. Ref: A11357
Located on the Canadian Pacific Railway main line at the western entrance of Rogers Pass, the Glacier House was the most popular of the three small mountain hotels established by the Company in 1886 at Field, Glacier and North Bend, BC to provide meals for train passengers and lodging for those wishing to stop over and admire the scenery. Situated near the foot of the Illecillewaet Glacier, the hotel became a favourite stopping place for tourists and climbers eager to explore the glacier and challenge the surrounding peaks.
Glacier House, BC. Ref: A8183
Nestled near the foot of the great Illecillewaet Glacier and surrounded by the peaks of the Selkirk Range, the CPR’s Glacier House hotel opened for business shortly after the completion of the transcontinental railway through the area in 1886. The hotel soon grew to become the headquarters for mountain climbing within the new Glacier National Park and the first recorded mountaineering expedition in Canada set out from here in 1888. Pictured here at the height of its popularity in the early 1900s, the hotel had expanded from six to ninety guest rooms, and even boasted of having a billiard parlor and a bowling alley. Unfortunately for the hotel, the relocation of the railway through the Connaught Tunnel in 1916, the growing success of the Company’s hotels at Banff and Lake Louise, and the gradual retreat of the Great Glacier resulted in a steady decline in patronage and the Glacier House was closed down at the end of the 1925 season.
Banff, AB, circa 1911. Ref: A32207
A view of the Banff Springs Hotel from the slopes of Sulphur Mountain. The building was designed by American architect Bruce Price and was built in the Scottish Baronial style between the spring of 1887 and the spring of 1888. Additions to the Banff Springs Hotel were completed in 1902, 1911, 1914, 1926 and 1928, necessitated by the growing volume of tourist traffic.
The hotel is located within a spectacular setting in the Rocky Mountains, just above the Bow Falls and close to thermal hot springs. The main view from the hotel is across the valley and toward Mount Rundle.
The 1888 structure cost $250,000 and a mistake made by the builder changed the intended orientation of the building, turning its back on the mountain vista.
Banff, AB, 1924. Ref: A28394
The Bow River Valley forms a backdrop for afternoon tea on the terrace of the Banff Springs Hotel.
Banff, AB, 1924. Ref: A28374
The lobby of the Banff Springs Hotel as it appeared before the rebuilding of the north wing and enlargement of the central Painter Tower during the winter of 1926-27.
Banff, AB, 1929. Ref: A32210
By 1906, plans were advanced for a complete overhaul of the Banff Springs Hotel, with much of the original structure being replaced. Walter Painter, chief architect for the CPR at the time, designed an eleven-storey central tower in concrete and stone, flanked by two wings. He corrected the mistake of the original structure, and oriented the building to take advantage of the dramatic view. The so-called “Painter Tower” was completed in 1914 at a cost of $2 million with 300 guest rooms and, for some time, became the tallest building in Canada. Construction of the new wings was delayed by World War I.
Further renovations were designed by architect, J. W. Orrock, who continued in the style originated by Painter, greatly expanded the Painter Tower, altering its roof line, and adding his own massive additions. In 1926, while work was proceeding on the new wings, a fire destroyed the remainder of the original building designed by Price. The two new wings opened in 1928.
Lake Louise, AB, 1924. Ref: A28854
Checking out the view at the Chateau Lake Louise.
Emerald Lake, BC, 1906. Ref: NS7858
The first non-indigenous person to see Emerald Lake was Canadian guide Tom Wilson, who stumbled upon it by accident in 1882 while working with a surveying party for the CPR. A string of his horses had gotten away, and it was while tracking them that he first entered the valley. He named the lake “Emerald Lake” due to the vivid turquoise color of the water, which is caused by powdered limestone in the water.
Lake Louise, AB, 1926. Ref: NS17078
Opened in 1926, the swimming pool at the Chateau Lake Louise was the second largest in Canada at that time. The water was obtained from nearby Lake Agnes and warmed to a comfortable 25 degrees centigrade by the hotel’s heating plant.
Lake Louise, AB, 1914. Ref: NS1498
A party of guests sets out from the Chateau Lake Louise for a horseback tour of the neighboring trails.
The Chateau Lake Louise, opened in 1890 as a single-storey building of log construction. Subsequent additions were made to it in 1893, 1900, 1906, 1911, 1913, 1924 and reconstruction in 1925.
Vancouver, BC, circa 1890. Ref: A11535
The first Canadian Pacific hotel at Vancouver was situated on the southwest corner of Granville and Georgia streets, overlooking a swampy plot of ground which eventually became the “CPR Park”, complete with lawns, tennis courts and a bandstand. Designed by Thomas Sorby, the architect responsible for the Company’s early mountain hotels at Glacier, Field and North Bend, BC, the Vancouver Hotel was officially opened in the spring of 1888 and in spite of its rather homely outward appearance soon became a source of pride for the fledgling west coast city. Positioned at the junction of Canadian Pacific’s transcontinental railway and trans-Pacific steamship services, the hotel prospered. In 1893 the first of several additions began transforming the original structure into an elegant 600-bedroom hotel which was completed in 1917 and rated by the press as “one of the finest on the North American continent”.
Quebec City, QC, 1901. Ref: A4989
Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City as it appeared at the turn of the century. Opened in 1893, the hotel remains the most distinctive and familiar feature of the Quebec City skyline and fronted by Dufferin Terrace, a popular promenade for tourists, overlooks the St. Lawrence River and the narrow, winding streets of the old Lower Town, which dates back to the founding of the city by Samuel de Champlain in the early 1600s.
Quebec City, QC. Ref: HO8-73-1
Additions in 1904, 1906, 1916 and 1923, were made to the Chateau Frontenac, and the 1923 addition included the great central tower.
Quebec City, QC, 1945. Ref: M2855
A dance party in the Jacques Cartier Room of the Chateau Frontenac at Quebec City in the mid-1940s.
Montreal, QC, 1902. Ref: A12737
CPR’s Place Viger Hotel in Montreal was erected in 1898, one block north of the Company’s former Dalhousie Square passenger terminal from which the first CPR transcontinental train had departed for the Pacific coast 12 years earlier. The ground floor of the new hotel doubled as a terminal for CPR trains bound for Quebec City and the Laurentian Mountains vacation areas north of Montreal. After many successful years, the popularity of the hotel began to wane as the city’s business district drifted westward. In 1935 the building was closed as a hotel, although for a brief period following the Second World War it served as temporary accommodation for British war brides of Canadian servicemen. Place Viger station remained in use until 1951 when the building was sold to the City of Montreal and converted into an annex for city hall.
Sicamous, BC, circa 1925. Ref: A8195
Canadian Pacific’s Hotel Sicamous was located on scenic Shuswap Lake in British Columbia, 45 miles west of Revelstoke, at the junction of the Company’s transcontinental main line and a branch line extending south to the Vernon area and the CPR steamboat service through the Okanagan Valley. Erected in 1898 on a narrow strip of land between the tracks and the lakeshore, the building served as both a hotel and railway station and catered not only to transient guests awaiting train connections but also vacationers and fishermen, for whom the CPR provided rowboats, motor launches and even a houseboat. In 1910 the hotel was enlarged by the addition of a third storey, doubling the number of guest rooms. Hotel Sicamous was to remain in operation until 1956 and the station, which occupied part of the main floor, survived for another eight years before being closed and the building demolished shortly afterwards.
Victoria, BC, 1925. Ref: A8658
The Empress Hotel opened in Victoria BC, January 20, 1908.
The interior of the Crystal Garden at Victoria, BC. Open to the public, the salt water swimming pool and conservatory was built by the CPR in 1925.
Toronto, ON, 1928. Ref: A8861
The Royal York Hotel, which opened on June 11th 1929, was once billed as the largest hotel in the British Empire and one of the finest on the continent.
The steel skeleton has been completed and the limestone outer walls are progressing upward in this view of the Royal York Hotel in Toronto under construction.
Montreal, QC, 1903. Ref: A14211
Engine no. 813 leads “Imperial Limited” from Windsor Station, Montreal.
1924. Ref: A28535
The open observation platform at the rear of a CPR first-class compartment sleeping car.
1924. Ref: A1981
The CPR “Trans-Canada Limited,” which operated during the summer tourist season between Montreal/Toronto and Vancouver. The interior of the dining room in the dining car.
Ref: GS20
Open observation car on passenger train.
Nicholas Morant, 1950. Ref: M2826
Engine “5927,” a T1b 2-10-4 steam locomotive, pulls a CPR westbound passenger train along Alberta’s Bow River.
Lake Louise, AB. Ref: NS1282
Chateau Lake Louise swimming pool
Ref: M188
Fly fishing.
Glacier House, BC, 1924. Ref: A8187
A game of croquet on the lawns of the Glacier House Hotel.
Banff, AB. Ref: H05-27
Golfing at the Banff Springs Hotel.
Yoho Valley, BC, circa 1938. Ref: M1317
Dan McCowan (top), was Western Secretary of the Sky Line Trail Hikers of the Canadian Rockies when this photograph was taken. The party of hikers stops to admire the view from a location known as “The Lookout” while on a Yoho Valley hike.
Columbia Icefield, AB, 1940. Ref: NS25099
Trail Rider silhouetted against Columbia Icefield.
Lake McArthur, BC. Ref: M3999
Lake McArthur, BC.
near Lake Louise, AB. Ref: M4863
Trail Riders near Lake Louise, Alberta.
Val David, QC, circa 1930s. Ref: M611
A Canadian Pacific ski train near Val David, Quebec, in the late 1930s.
near Banff, AB, 1939. Ref: M886
Skiing in Sunshine Valley, near Banff, Alberta.
Quebec City, QC, 1940. Ref: M794
Cocktails were even served to skaters at the Château Frontenac. The ice rink on the Dufferin Terrace was within a few feet of the Château’s doors.
Quebec City, QC, 1935. Ref: NS24098
Over a quarter of a mile long, the triple-chute toboggan run by the Château Frontenac is one of the most popular winter sports in the Quebec capital.
Quebec City, QC, 1946. Ref: M2904
Skating has long been a popular winter activity for guests and visitors at the Château Frontenac in Quebec City.
Mount Assiniboine, BC, circa 1939. Ref: M1909
Ski Pioneer Erling Strom on Mount Assiniboine, BC.
Ref: NS18950
Trail Riders at Lake of the Hanging Glacier.
Moraine Lake, AB, 1926. Ref: NS85
Accomplished mountain climber Georgia Englehard’s first climb in 1926 to Pinnacle Peak above Moraine Lake with CPR guide Edward Feuz. In the 1931 season alone, Ms. Englehard made 38 ascents, mostly in the Yoho area and the Selkirks. Throughout her career she climbed Mt. Victoria 13 times.
near Lake Louise, AB, 1910. Ref: A10976
A party of climbers ascends Mount Abbott under the watchful eyes of their Canadian Pacific Swiss Guides. The Company encouraged the growth of mountaineering as both an adventurous and scientific pursuit by introducing the guides in 1899, and providing shelters for climbers in remote areas of the Rockies and Selkirks. Hermit Hut, overlooking Rogers Pass in the Selkirks, was the first such facility to be erected in Canada.
near Lake Louise, AB, 1923. Ref: A10974
Abbot hut, located at an altitude of 9,600 feet on the Continental Divide near Lake Louise, was one of several alpine shelters built by CPR between 1902 and 1922 to promote mountain climbing.
Lake Louise, AB, circa 1925. Ref: NS6698
Lake Louise soon became a center for mountain climbing for both experienced and novice alpinists. In the mid-1920s, Swiss guides, from the Chateau Lake Louise, offered guided climbs at a rate of $7 per day.
immigration & settlements
The CPR didn’t just advertise for settlers in eastern Canada, it also ran advertisements in European newspapers to tell people about the fertile farmland of the Canadian Prairies. In 1909, CPR spent more money promoting immigration than the Canadian government.
Agreements were struck with various European governments to aid in the immigration process.
Naples, Italy. Ref: NS12276
Empress of England at Naples, Italy.
Libua, Latvia. Ref: A15403
With assistance from a $2 million credit loan from CPR, more than 20,000 German-speaking Mennonites from Russia emigrated to the Canadian Prairies during the 1920s, including this group preparing to board the CPR steamship Bruton at Libau on the Baltic Sea.
Liverpool, Great Britain, 1923. Ref: A12293
The first contingent of British harvesters bound for the Canadian Prairies during the 1923 season awaits departure from Liverpool aboard the CPR steamer Montclare. The annual harvest excursions drew tens of thousands of men from Great Britain and Europe, to assist in the harvesting of the crops, many of whom remained as settlers.
circa 1920s. Ref: NS18393
A family onboard the CPR steamship Montrose in the 1920s. At that time, the Canadian and British governments reached an agreement to reduce ocean rates to encourage British families, teenage boys and domestic servants to immigrate to Canada.
Regina, SK, circa 1920s. Ref: NS22147
In the early 1920s a group of women immigrating to Canada pose on the steps of the Regina Women’s Hostel. The CPR pamphlet — Openings for British Women in Canada — available through the company’s head office in London, described a wide range of employment opportunities available and the conditions women could expect to encounter.
Montreal, QC, circa 1920s. Ref: NS13729
A group of British immigrants to Canada pose in front of the train arrival and departure board at CPR’s Windsor Station in Montreal in the 1920s. The company attracted settlers at central points in the British Isles and assisted in their placement on farms throughout Canada.
Great Britain, circa 1920s. Ref: A12344
In the 1920s, Hebridean immigrants escaping the depressed Scottish economy wait to board a CPR steamship. The British government had created the Empire Settlement Act which offered subsidized passages to Canada.
Bassano, AB, 1914. Ref: NS13230 (top) and A827 (bottom)
Top image: A party of colonists from Colorado arriving at Bassano, AB prepares to occupy their CP ready-made farms in the eastern section of the irrigation block in 1914. The CPR’s colonization efforts and achievements that went well beyond simply selling its lands remain unique among the land grant railways of North America.
Bottom image: Settlers standing in from of Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Sault Ste Marie Railway car.
Canadian Prairies, 1890s. Ref: NS1159
Farm labourers in front of harvest excursion train.
The western farmer required seasonal workers to quickly harvest the wheat. CPR operated ‘harvest’ trains that brought able-bodied men to the farm to fill that niche. At their peak in the 1920s, these trains carried about 45,000 farm workers to help keep the economy growing.
1885-1890. Ref: NS12968
Although austere in appearance, the colonist sleeping cars, introduced by the CPR in 1884, were a decided improvement over the ordinary day coaches used for handling immigrant traffic to the Prairies during the preceding years. Available at no extra cost over the coach fare, the colonist cars provided upper and lower berth sleeping accommodation and a combination car heater and cook stove on which the occupants could prepare hot meals.
Both images from Strathmore, AB. Ref: GS25 (top), GS2 (bottom)
GS25 (top): Supply & Experimental farm, Strathmore, Alberta.
CPR experimental farms such as this one on the Prairies were instrumental during the ‘20s and ‘30s in developing hardy new types of wheat that would thrive in the Northwest.
GS2 (bottom): New settlers, western Canada.
Ref: NS12974
The CPR’s bilingual exhibition car crisscrossed Ontario and Quebec beginning in 1884 promoting the “great openings for immigrants to the boundless limits of the great Canadian North-West.” Varieties of grains and vegetables that could be grown on the Prairies together with specimens of ore, copper and iron from the Bow River were on display.
Indian Head, SK, 1900. Ref: A11171
Country grain elevators, similar to these at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, were introduced to the prairies in 1879, and soon became a symbol of Canada’s grain-producing areas in the West. The number of local elevators grew rapidly following the first great harvest in 1887, when the inadequacy of the fledgling grain storage and transportation system forced farmers to store their crops in two-bushel jute sacks on railway platforms, often in stacks which overshadowed the station building.
Ref: A12028
In the first part of the 20th century the CPR established a program consisting of ready-made farms to attract British settlers. Each quarter section and half-section farm came fenced with one third of the land plowed. The farms were located near schools, churches as well as the railway.
Moose Jaw, SK. Ref: NS16769
CPR divisional staff at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
Bassano, AB, circa 1915. Ref: A2081
In 1914, about a year before this photo was taken of the CPR’s Land Office at Bassano, Alberta, the company had completed an aggressive scheme to irrigate a large area of semi-arid land in southeastern Alberta. The plan included a 3.2 kilometer aqueduct constructed at Brooks, an enormous dam built at Bassano on the Bow River and about 4,000 kilometers of canals and ditches. Irrigation made southeastern Alberta “fairly fit for settlement.”
Golden, BC, 1916. Ref: NS3269
CPR troop train near Golden, BC, 1916.
Montreal, QC, circa 1914. Ref: A15503
During WW1, in a scene repeated hundreds of times at railway stations throughout Canada, soldiers prepare to depart from Windsor Station, Montreal, on their way to Europe and the “war to end all wars.”
Montreal, QC, 1917. Ref: NS5477
The inaugural meeting of the Special Committee on War and National Defence, the predecessor of the Railway Association of Canada, was held in the CPR boardroom at Windsor Station in Montreal on October 23, 1917. Seated left to right: H.G. Kelley, President, Grand Trunk Railway; D.B. Hanna, Third Vice-President, Canadian Northern Railway, sitting in on behalf of the President, Sir William Mackenzie; Lord Shaughnessy, President, CPR; A.H. Smith, President, New York Central Railroad; E.W. Beatty, Vice-President and General Counsel, CPR; W.M. Neal, CPR, Secretary of the Committee.
Ref: A15505
Women munitions workers during World War I.
1914-1918. Ref: NS25529
Canadian Pacific Ocean Services steamship Empress of Russia camouflaged in dazzle colors during World War I.
1916. Ref: NS3664
The Duke of Connaught inspecting the Troops during summer training at Camp Valcartier, Quebec.
1916. Ref: NS3663
Soldiers at Camp Valcartier, QC.
France, 1941. Ref: A4342
Shortly after the beginning of World War I, CPR organized the first battalion of Canadian Overseas Railway Construction Corps (CORCC) volunteers. This wrecked railway bridge in France was replaced in only 20 hours by the CORCC.
1914-1918. Ref: A15828
Women working in railway shop during World War I.
1917. Ref: NS3871
Interior of CPR military hospital ward car, used during World War I for transporting wounded personnel from ports of entry to local hospitals across Canada. Car 2916 could accommodate up to fourteen patients in standard hospital cots.
Balfour, BC, circa 1912. A8207
The Kootenay Lake Hotel at Balfour, BC, was built by the CPR in 1910 to provide first class lodgings for tourists and businessmen visiting the Kootenays. Closed to guests during WWI, the hotel was leased to the Dominion government in 1917 as a hospital for returned soldiers.
circa 1940s. Ref: NS3807
Air force pilot facing his fighter plane.
Montreal, QC,1944-1945. Ref: B3753-22
Soldiers at Windsor Station, Montreal.
Montreal, QC, 1941-1943. Ref: NS3004
During WW II, CPR’s Angus Shops in Montreal produced 1,400 of these “Valentine” army tanks for shipment to Russia to assist in their drive to force the German Army out of eastern Europe.
Calgary, AB, 1945. Ref: A27254
CPR Ogden Shops armament production during World War II.
Calgary, AB. Ref: A37326
WW II gun and munition manufacturing at Ogden Shops.
Montreal, QC, circa 1942. Ref: NS3003
A machinist at work on one of the many parts for Valentine Tanks while co-worker in foreground repairs steam locomotive bells. World War II “Valentine” army tank production and locomotive repair went hand-in-hand at Canadian Pacific Railway’s Angus Shops in Montreal.
Sudbury, ON, 1943. Ref: NS4760
With the ranks of male employees thinned by enlistments in the armed forces during the Second World War, hundreds of women volunteered to take over a variety of jobs connected with the day-to-day running of a railway, particularly in the operating, mechanical, maintenance of way and communications departments. At the Sudbury engine terminal, CPR employees Myrtle Pearson and Julia Patrash took the traditional male task of wiping down locomotives between runs.
Quebec City, QC, 1943. Ref: WAR110
On two occasions during the Second World War, the Canadian Pacific Chateau Frontenac was appropriated by the Canadian Government to serve as the working headquarters for meetings between United States President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill of Great Britain to discuss Allied strategy. Among the important decisions arrived at during the first Quebec Conference in 1943 was the choosing of the Normandy area in France as the location of the invasion of German-occupied Europe in June the following year.
Quebec City, Quebec, 1943. Ref: NS4646
This train of CPR business cars and coaches was placed at the disposal of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the 1943 Quebec Conference to discuss Allied strategy during the Second World War.
Quebec City, QC, 1944. Ref: WAR104
In 1943 and 1944, Quebec City’s Citadel and Chateau Frontenac distinguished themselves by hosting two War Conferences. With the towering Chateau Frontenac and mighty St. Lawrence River as backdrops, William Lyon Mackenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, and Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, surrounded by their chiefs of staff, sit for the media during the 1944 conference.
1941. Ref: WAR75-2
Members of one of the CPR’s Air Raid Precaution units stage a mobile display of their contribution to civil defence in the early 1940s. The A.R.P. was organized at the beginning of WWII for the purpose of protecting the travelling public and Company personnel and property in the event of bombing raids by enemy aircraft. Anticipating these attacks, fire-fighting, medical and other emergency equipment and supplies were placed at strategic locations throughout the system. Several thousand employees across the country received training in evacuating buildings, administering first aid, maintaining and repairing communications, electrical and sanitary services, and extinguishing incendiary bombs.
1945. Ref: WAR9-2
Canadian soldiers returning home after the war on a CPR troop train.
1941-1943. Ref: NS8135
CPR hospital car.
Mediterranean Sea, 1942. Ref: NS863
In August of 1942 the Princess Marguerite of the Canadian Pacific B.C. Coast Steamship Service sank in the Mediterranean, forty-nine minutes after being struck by a German torpedo while transporting troops from Port Said to Cyprus. Fourteen of the twenty-two Canadian Pacific vessels serving in the Second World War were lost through enemy action or related incidents, including the 42,000-ton passenger liner Empress of Britain, the Company’s flagship and largest civilian ship lost during the conflict.
Montreal, QC, circa 1940s. Ref: A17411
A group of Canadian soldiers gathered beneath the war memorial statue at the Canadian Pacific Windsor Station in Montreal, possibly awaiting departure for an unidentified “Eastern Atlantic Seaport” en-route to the war in Europe. Over 20,000 Company officers and employees, or one-quarter of the labor force, volunteered for active duty during the Second World War.
innovation & diversification
1897. Ref: A14054
The hustle and bustle of the Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo Railway’s (TH&B) Walnut Street freight office and shed in 1897. To gain access to the lucrative southern Ontario markets and a US gateway through Buffalo, the CPR bought a 27 percent interest in the TH&B in 1895 and then acquired the remaining shares in 1977 from Conrail.
London, UK. Ref: A.37246
Van advertising Canadian Pacific at Trafalgar Square, London.
The World’s Greatest Transportation System on this van is promoting Canada abroad. The CPR did more to promote this than the Canadian government in the years before the First World War.
Port Arthur, ON, 1885-1890. Ref: A23631
The steamship Athabaska, pictured at Port Arthur, ON, and her two sister ships the Algoma and Alberta were built for Canadian Pacific in Scotland in 1883. The following year they inaugurated the Company’s Great Lakes service, carrying passengers and freight between Owen Sound and the Lakehead on a triweekly schedule. For the first two seasons much of the cargo space was taken up by railway construction material, pending the completion of the line north of Lake Superior linking the Company’s western rail system with the eastern provinces.
1891. Ref: NS2156
On the CP steamship Empress of India’s 1891 maiden voyage to Vancouver, BC she carried 131 passengers along with a precious cargo of tea and silk. The 5,905-ton Empress of India was the first deep sea vessel owned by CP. The event confirmed the Company’s, and Canada’s, position as a major participant in the growing trans-Pacific trade between North America and the Far East.
BC, 1914-1930. Ref: NS12126
Providing accommodation for up to 500 passengers, the B.C. Lake & River Service sternwheeler Sicamous was launched in 1914 from the Canadian Pacific shipyard at Okanagan Landing. The steamer was a familiar sight on Okanagan Lake for over 22 years before being laid up and later acquired by the community of Penticton, BC for a marine museum.
circa 1919. Ref: NS6712
The 14,188-ton Empress of Britain I completed in 1906 was the first of three Canadian Pacific trans-Atlantic passenger liners to bear this name. Renamed Montroyal in 1924, the ship was withdrawn from service in 1930.
Hong Kon, circa 1927. Ref: A16943
Canadian Pacific’s Empress of Australia and Empress of Canada share a wharf at the Kowloon docks at Hong Kong. For fifty years the port was an important terminal for the Pacific “Empress” ships and it was here they were drydocked and given their annual overhaul.
1930. Ref: NS7722
Launching of the Empress of Britain II.
1930. Ref: NS1795
Launching the Empress of Britain II.
1931. Ref: NS22046
Flagship of the Canadian Pacific fleet following her entry into service in the summer of 1931, the 42,348-ton Empress of Britain was built at a cost of over $10 million to represent the Company’s bid to maintain its competitive position in the trans-Atlantic and winter cruise markets. The “Britain” could accommodate as many as 1,900 passengers and crew within her 760-foot length, making her the largest steamship to serve the North Atlantic route between Canada and Europe. In 1939 the ship was requisitioned by the British Government for wartime trooping service and while returning to Britain on her fifth voyage as a military transport was intercepted by enemy forces off the coast of Ireland and sunk on October 28, 1940.
Ref: NS800
The first CP vessel designed for transporting containerized goods, the Beaveroak began service in 1965 between Europe and Canada. In 1970 the ship was lengthened, its container capacity tripled, and the name changed to CP Ambassador for use between England and Wolfe’s Cove container port near Quebec City.
Ref: E618
CP unloads a sea container from a ship in 1967 — signaling the beginning of containerized import traffic destined for North American markets.
Ref: NS2694
Launched in 1966, the 71,000 dwt Lord Mount Stephen was the first of a fleet of large-capacity ships built for Canadian Pacific (Bermuda) Limited a wholly-owned subsidiary formed by the Company in 1964 to own and operate ocean-going bulk carriers in the international trade. The new tanker was chartered to Shell Petroleum Company for handling crude petroleum from the Persian Gulf to Japan.
Ref: M4323
CP Airlines — DC-3 in flight.
circa 1940s. Ref: M4335
Merchandise from a Canadian Pacific DC3 Airliner is transferred to a waiting Canadian Pacific Express truck in the late 1940s.
circa 1946. Ref: NS8686
Used as long-range maritime patrol aircraft during the Second World War, Canadian Pacific Airlines purchased four of these “Canso” flying boats from Crown Assets in 1945-1946 and employed them for several years between Vancouver and a number of communities along the coast of British Columbia. One of these aircraft had been credited with the sinking of a German submarine during the Battle of the Atlantic in 1944.
Ref: M4896
CP Air stewardess by aircraft engine. Canadian Pacific Airlines was rebranded CP Air in 1968.
1955. Ref: NS26252
The Douglas DC-6 entered service with Canadian Pacific Airlines in 1953 on the trans-Pacific routes from Canada to Australia and Hong Kong. In addition to maintaining these services, this type of aircraft also inaugurated flights to Peru in the same year, Holland in 1955, and Portugal in 1957. The DC-6 was the last all-propeller-driven aircraft acquired by the airline, and was replaced on the Company’s international routes in 1958 by the turbo-prop Bristol “Britannia”, itself an interim type succeeded three years later by the pure-jet Douglas DC-8.
Ref: MNC4
CP Air hangar, Vancouver.
near Medicine Hat, AB. Ref: A37360
In December 1883, a CPR construction crew drilling for water for the company’s steam locomotives, accidentally discovered natural gas at the Langevin siding about 35 km west of Medicine Hat, AB, marking the beginning of Western Canada’s petroleum industry. CP created a Department of Natural Resources in 1912 to administer the company’s land grants and their natural resources including timber, oil, gas and mineral rights.
AB. Ref: NS21911
In December 1883, while searching for water at Langevin AB , CPR employees discovered natural gas rushing out of the well tube. The railway became the first in Canada to discover and develop the use of natural gas as a source for heating fuel. The CPR formed its Department of Natural Resources in 1912, incorporated Canadian Pacific Oil and Gas in 1958 which became PanCanadian Petrolem in 1971.
Taber, AB, mid 1960s. Ref: M8195
A drilling rig, contracted to explore by Canadian Pacific Oil and Gas Co., lights up the prairie waters of Chin Coulee near Taber, Alberta.
near Rossland, BC. Ref: NS16902
The Centre Star Mine was discovered in 1890 near Rossland, BC and was one of the original claims which led to the birth of the metallurgical industry in the West Kootenay area during the mid-1890s. The CPR purchased many of these properties in 1898 and formed what later became the Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company. Renamed Cominco Limited in 1966, the company was sold to other interests in 1986.
Trail, BC. Ref: NS16838
Copper mine in Trail, BC.
near Kimberley, BC, 1965. Ref: M4279
Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada’s zinc-lead-iron Sullivan mine at Kimberley, BC in 1965. Cominco, as it was later known, was at one a time a CPR subsidiary.
Kitchener, ON. Ref: A20638
Telegraph messengers in front of Kitchener office.
Montreal, QC. Ref: NS11399
Telegraph messenger boys with their bicycles, Montreal.
Pendleton, ON. Ref: NS7040
Station operator at Pendleton, Ontario.
Ref: NS1257
Telegraph messenger on motorcycle with side-car. Canadian Pacific Transport Co. in conjunction with Canadian Pacific Telegraphs
1922. Ref: A12291
Unidentified CPR Telegraph office.
Ref: NS13736
Dominion Express horse and cart.
Ref: NS3936
Horse-drawn CP Express baggage cart.
Ref: NS19224
CP Express truck and Western Canada Airways aircraft.
Liverpool, UK. Ref: NS9016
Dominion Express Company motor trucks delivering goods to the Liverpool docks for shipment aboard a Minnedosa-class vessel of CP’s Atlantic fleet. The express company, a wholly-owned but separately operated and managed subsidiary of CP, maintained more than 8,900 agencies throughout the world.
near Hope, BC. Ref: NS7865
The Quintette Tunnels on the former Kettle Valley Railway.
The difficulties often encountered in building a railway through mountainous terrain are illustrated by the Kettle Valley Railway’s efforts to overcome the Coquihalla River in southern British Columbia. Within a distance of less than 1,800 feet, four tunnels and two bridges were required to cross the Coquihalla Canyon between Othello and Hope. This location is now a part of the Coquihalla Canyon Recreation Area, and accessible to the public as a hiking trail.
Mount MacDonald, BC, 1913-1916. Ref: NS3672
Drilling holes for dynamite charges while digging the Canadian Pacific five-mile (8km) Connaught Tunnel through Mount MacDonald in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia. The tunnel was completed in 1916 and has been in continuous use since.
BR223
The Spiral Tunnels, located 50 miles west of Banff, consist of two grade-reducing spirals that cross over themselves. Opened for traffic on September 1, 1909, the Spiral Tunnels were built to replace a steep section of track called “The Big Hill”, with its 4.5% grade.
As an example of how it works, an eastbound train leaving Field (at the bottom of the illustration) would travel across the Kicking Horse River and into the Lower Spiral Tunnel. It spirals to the left up inside the mountain for 891 metres and emerges 15 metres (50 feet) higher. The train then crosses back over the Kicking Horse River and into the 991 metre tunnel in the mountain on the right of the illustration. The train completes another loop, emerging 17 metres (56 feet) higher and continues to the top of Kicking Horse Pass.
near Rogers Pass, BC, 1984. E5715-22
Mount Macdonald Tunnel
In 1982 CPR started construction on a project to make it possible for longer and heavier trains to travel through Rogers Pass with ease. The project, which consisted of a 1,229-metre long viaduct, a shorter 1.9-kilometre tunnel, and a longer 14.7-kilometre tunnel, was completed in the late 1980s.
This modern-day engineering feat is the longest tunnel in the western hemisphere.
Top: circa 1886. Ref: A8022 Bottom: circa 1888. Ref: NS25985
Top image (A8022).
CPR passenger train on the Horseshoe trestle.
Bottom image (NS25985).
In the spring of 1885, construction began on the largest structure to date, the CPR’s Mountain Creek Bridge. Built with more than two million board feet of lumber, the bridge was 50 meters (164 feet) high and spanned a distance of 331 meters (1,068 feet). Perched on the bridge is locomotive No. 403, a Brown class S.D. 2-8-0 built at the Canadian Pacific New Shops in Montreal in December 1886. It was assigned to transcontinental passenger service between Donald and Revelstoke BC in the late 1800s.
circa 1919. Ref: A5846
Construction of the Quebec Bridge.
Saint John, NB. Ref: A584
CPR bridge over the Reversing Falls, at Saint John, New Brunswick.
Lethbridge, AB. Ref: NS1411
Once billed as North America’s longest and tallest structure of its kind, the 1,624 meter long bridge Lethbridge Viaduct spanned Alberta’s Oldman River and opened for traffic in 1909.
