Canadian Train Vacation Articles
- Canadian Rockies Train Vacations
- Rocky Mountaineer Services
- Routes on the Rocky Mountaineer
- Via Rail Canada Service Classes
- A Brief History of the Canada Pacific Railway
- Travel in Style on the Royal Canadian Pacific Service
- Canadian Wilderness Tours by Train
- Canadian Canoeing Vacations by Train
- Canada Heli-Hiking Tours by Train
- Canada Train Vacations as Honeymoons
- Polar Bear Train Tours In Canada
- Visit The Polar Bear Capital Of The World On Canada Train Tours
- The Chateau Lake Louise
- Canada's Chateau Laurier
- Canada’s Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel
- Train Tours to Canada’s Hotel Vancouver
- Quebec City's Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac
- Jasper, Alberta Travel and History
- Vacations in Toronto by Train
- Travel by Train to Vancouver, British Columbia
- Halifax, Nova Scotia Train Vacations
- Banff, Alberta Train Travel Options
- Tofino, British Columbia Train Vacations
- Toronto's Fairmont Royal York Hotel
- Canadian Trains in Cinema and Literature
A Brief History of the Canada Pacific Railway
The Canada Pacific Railway was one of the engineering marvels of its time, and over the past 120 years has become both a national symbol and a testament to a vision and determination on the scale of the nation itself.
Before the building of the Canada Pacific Railway, traveling between the nation's Eastern and Western provinces was a difficult proposition – the vastness of the nation made cross country travel challenging to say the least. However, by 1881 the ambitious project of building a transnational railway had begun in earnest.
The first spike in the Canada Pacific Railway was driven in Bonfield, Ontario; the site is a must-visit destination for railroad buffs on a Canada train tour. The westward expansion of the railway met with several challenges along the way including the problem of finding a pass through the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia, a difficulty overcome by Major Albert B. Rogers, for whom the pass was named.
The route of the Canada Pacific Railway also happened to cross land owned by the Blackfoot tribe; a solution was found by a priest named Albert Lacombe, who offered the Blackfoot chief Crowfoot a lifetime pass on the Canada Pacific Railway in return for permission to cross Blackfoot territory.
The difficulties faced by the builders of the Canada Pacific Railway were not solely of a diplomatic nature – the project called for some innovative feats of engineering. The Big Hill section of the route required negotiating a 350 meter drop along the Kicking Horse River, necessitating a 7 kilometer stretch of track to be built at a gradient four times that considered safe at the time. Despite a number of safety measures being built in, the Canada Pacific Railway eventually built the Spiral Tunnels still in use today and themselves an impressive feat of engineering.
Even through financial strain, the tragic deaths of many railroad workers and even a short-lived rebellion, work on the Canada Pacific Railway continued, with the project's first phase nearing completion in 1886. The first transnational rail trip in Canada began in Montreal, Quebec at Dalhousie Station (another important stop on any Canada train vacation) and terminated in Port Moody, BC.
Other lines were quickly added to the rail network, with links being established which connected the fledgling railway to New York City, Detroit and eventually Chicago. The Canada Pacific Railway became an important vehicle for the settling of central Canada, now made accessible to the coastal regions.
The railway also opened up new markets for Canadian goods which were now easier to ship to markets further afield within Canada as well as in the United States; and of course, the railway made it possible for people from all over the world to experience Canada from the unique perspective offered by Canada train vacations.
The Canada Pacific Railway and rail tourism in Canada are as popular today as ever and tourists can enjoy all the natural beauty of Canada, visit its great cities and explore Canada from coast to coast at favorable prices with Canada train vacation package deals which provide all the best that Canada has to offer in a luxurious, comfortable way: by rail.