Canadian Pacific: Stand Fast, Craigellachie!

Gordon C. Shaw is professor emeritus in the Faculty of Administrative
Studies at York University.

Each of the nine chapters of this coffee-table-sized book describes a
different aspect of past or present Canadian Pacific Railway operations.
The chapters deal with the company’s former electric lines between
Waterloo and Port Dover in Southern Ontario, the company’s builders,
the driving of the last spike in 1883 at Craigellachie in British
Columbia, and the replacement of steam with first-generation diesels,
among other topics. One chapter pays tribute to the recently restored
steam locomotive, #2816, which is used for “Breakfast for Learning”
trains and other non-profit causes.

Each chapter is followed by 40 or so pages of beautiful, mostly colour
photographs depicting CPR operations across Canada, many of which the
company has discontinued. While there is an emphasis on the steam era,
the text and pictures also recognize the present by portraying, to give
an example, the company’s new “Royal Canadian Pacific,” a
luxurious cruise-oriented passenger train, replete with vintage
locomotives and carriages that were adapted from former official
business cars.

The book is well written and the pictures are well chosen from a
rail-fan viewpoint. Canadian Pacific is highly recommended for anyone
interested in railways (and Canadian Pacific in particular) and for
armchair travellers who enjoy captivating pictures of various parts of
Canada.