From Summit to Sea: An Illustrated History of Railroads in British Columbia and Alberta

Fritz Pannekoek is Director, Historic Sites and Archives Service,
Alberta Community Development, and the author of A Snug Little Flock:
The Social Origins of the Riel Resistance of 1869–70.

This first-rate history of the railways of the two western provinces
through 1939 provides just the right mix of detail and overview. There
is basic information on 19th- and 20th-century railway technology, but
the real highlights of the book are the photographs, most of which come
from the Provincial Archives of Alberta. An appendix lists the railway
charters up to 1939, and there are several maps outlining the expansion
of the railways (unfortunately, the labels are small to the point of
illegibility).

The book is light on analysis, and the research is based largely on
secondary sources (railway, government, personal, and corporate records
appear not to have been consulted at all). Nevertheless, this book is a
“must have” for railway aficionados and for those interested in the
engineering marvels of Western Canada’s railway heritage.