Across the Shield

In 1872, even before the Intercolonial Railway was open for traffic, the Dominion had accepted responsibility for undertaking the construction of a railway connecting Central Canada with the Pacific Coast. The construction of what was to become the Canadian Pacific Railway is one of the more fascinating tales in Canadian history. The CPR’s impact on western settlement and development by non-indigenous populations was profound, and established a pattern of settlement that continues to influence the West to this day. The construction of the Railway represented a monumental task in terms of both engineering and logistics. Within a decade of the completion of the Intercolonial, the distances covered by mainline track in Canada had more than doubled to over 16,000 kilometres—much of it due to the Canadian Pacific.

The CPR’s expansion into western Canada was matched in the East by the consolidation of a number of existing railways under the Grand Trunk Railway, as well as continued railway expansion in all regions. The Canadian Pacific Railway extended its lines into southern Ontario and into the Atlantic provinces. The railway had now become an integral part of the country’s economic and social life and, between 1875 and 1890, the annual amount of freight carried on Canadian railways increased almost four times, and the number of passengers doubled.

The railway boom was to continue in Canada until the outbreak of the First World War. Fuelled by a steady flow of immigrants into both the West and into cities across the country, two more transcontinental systems joined the CPR in crisscrossing the nation by 1914. These two new railway projects—the Canadian Northern Railway System and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway—coupled with the existing railway companies expansion through the construction of branch, or feeder, lines, once again tripled mainline railways to over 55,000 kilometres by 1915.

By this time, railways had changed the character of Canadian cities. More than just carriers, railways employed large numbers of people in railway shops and yards. Major railway shops like the CPR’s Angus Shops, the GTR’s Pointe St. Charles Shops, or the Grand Trunk Pacific’s Shops at Transcona, near Winnipeg, were major manufacturing and repair facilities. Controlling telegraphs, express and most shipping by land, the railways exerted an influence in almost every area of Canadian life.

Commemorative Spike (Last Spike CPR). The spike was donated to the CSTM by Canadian Pacific in 1985 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Last Spike. Manufacturer: unknown, 1885. (CSTM 850916)

The Museum has a number of exceptional artifacts representing railway technology and history during this period. Perhaps the most important, from a symbolic standpoint, is the Last Spike (850916), driven by Lord Strathcona at Craigallichie, British Columbia on November 15, 1885 to mark the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway between Montreal and Port Moody (Vancouver). Bent while being driven into the tie, the small spike was removed, and portions were later used to make jewellery for the wives of the Railway’s Board of Directors.

Less symbolic, but more typical of railway operations of the period, is CNR steam locomotive 247 (670003). A small tank engine constructed in the Grand Trunk Shops in Montreal in 1894, yard engines of this type were indispensable in assembling trains in railway yards across Canada. The tank engine design was gradually phased out on most major railways in Canada after 1900. Far more long-lasting was CPR 926, a highly-successful steam locomotive design that was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Angus Shops in Montreal in 1911.

CNR Locomotive 247. Manufacturer: Grand Trunk Railway - Pointe St-Charles Shops, 1894 (CSTM 670003)

CPR Locomotive 926. Manufacturer: Canadian Pacific Railway - Angus Shops, 1911 (CSTM 670009)

CPR No. 926 in Service, Winnipeg, Manitoba, ca 1958. (Photo R.S. Ritchie)

One of the most representative locomotives used by the CPR, this small 4-6-0 type engine was introduced in the early 1900s to address growing traffic on the railway (670009). Extremely tough and versatile, over 500 engines of this type were used by the company right into the late 1950s, and were employed in freight, passenger and yard service throughout the CPR system.

Bread: Terse Stories of Success in the Development of Western Canada Along the Lines of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, Montreal: GTPR. 1910. (CSTM Library L32269)

A brief overview of our holdings from this period would not be complete without some reference to our excellent collection of railway engineering drawings, brochures, and manuals. Apart from standard operational publications like timetables and manuals, in recent years an effort has been made to collect a small but representative number of brochures which illustrate and document the railway companies’ efforts to encourage colonization in western Canada. One of the more interesting of these is a brochure entitled Bread: Terse Stories of Success in the Development of Western Canada (L32269), which was published by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1911. Brochures of this nature, apart from their often-attractive covers, provide a valuable insight into the ways in which railways encouraged colonization.

CPR Mechanical Dept., Drawing from Dübs & Co. ca 1885 (CSTM)

These materials are supplemented by a substantial number of railway mechanical drawings from the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Canadian Locomotive Company and the Porter Locomotive Co. The 40,000 in the Museum’s collection provide detailed information on locomotive construction practices and standards from the 1880s into the 1940s.