Saturday, September 4, 2010

Simon Fraser and then the CPR and CNR

Explorer Simon Fraser's Historic Marker









Supports from original CN railroad bridge (1908)
and current bridge over the beginnings of the Fraser River, Yellowhead Highway

The CPR, Canada's first transcontinental railroad through the southern Rockies, was completed with the driving of the last spike in 1885 at Craigellachine. In Port Moody, this event is still commemorated annually.

Afterwards, the Grand Trunk Pacific, (later the CNR), built a second line through a more northerly route, crossing the Rocky Mountains through Yellowhead Pass.

This year is also the 125th anniversary of Banff National Park, which was created the same year the railroad was completed. It was the railroad that brought the first tourists to the Rockies. Canadian Pacific shares the same anniversary and this year Banff's Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies is one of many Canadian museums to receive Legacy gifts from the company.

This past summer,the Empress 2826 Steam train and the Museum Car have been visiting various communities in western Canada to celebrate the nation-building legacy of the railroad.

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