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. The logical route for a railway serving Western Canada would be to go through the American Midwest and the city of Chicago, Illinois. The first obstacle to its construction was economic. Moreover, manufacturing interests in Quebec and Ontario desired access to sources of raw materials and markets in Canada's west. Macdonald also saw it as essential to the creation of a unified Canadian nation that would stretch across the continent. The government thus promised to build a railway linking the Pacific province to the eastern provinces within ten years of July 20, 1871. British Columbia had insisted upon a national railway as a condition for joining the Confederation of Canada. 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. the creation of a transcontinental railway. The object of both praise and damnation for over 120 years, the CPR remains an indisputable icon of Canadian nationalism.īefore the Canadian Pacific Railway, 1871-1881Ĭanada's very existence depended on the successful completion of a major civil engineering project, via. 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. Its primary passenger services were eliminated in 1986 after being assumed by VIA Rail Canada in 1978. 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. It was Canada's first transcontinental railway. The railway was originally built between eastern Canada and British Columbia between 18 (connecting with Ottawa Valley and Georgian Bay area lines built earlier), fulfilling a promise extended to British Columbia when it entered Confederation in 1871. Its headquarters are in Calgary, Alberta. 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. The Canadian Pacific Railway ( CPR AAR reporting marks CP, CPAA, CPI), known as CP Rail between 19, is a Canadian Class I railway operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. An eastbound CPR freight at Stoney Creek Bridge in Rogers Pass.
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