Rails Across the Rockies

The construction of the Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk Pacific, and the Canadian Northern railways rank among the greatest political and financial gambles in Canada’s history. Politicians, engineers, and surveyors bickered and scrapped for years over why, how, and where to locate the rails. Each of the enterprises helped to stitch the country together physically while threatening to tear it apart politically. Great Railways of the Canadian West tells the stories of the scheming and the daring, and the monumental physical toil of laying steel across the mountains in the golden age of railroading in Canada.

The construction of the Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk Pacific, and the Canadian Northern railways rank among the greatest political and financial gambles in Canada’s history. Politicians, engineers, and surveyors bickered and scrapped for years over why, how, and where to locate the rails. Each of the enterprises helped to stitch the country together physically while threatening to tear it apart politically. Great Railways of the Canadian West tells the stories of the scheming and the daring, and the monumental physical toil of laying steel across the mountains in the golden age of railroading in Canada.

"Honour your subject; honour your audience." Graeme Pole has been trooping around the Canadian Rockies since 1982, and has been writing about the human history and the natural history of western Canada since 1989. His catalogue includes thirteen published books with cumulative sales of more than 300,000 copies. Graeme lives with his family near Hazelton in northwestern BC, where he serves as a paramedic. Hold that thought; there goes the pager....