Tales of the CPR

Gordon Turner is the author of Empress of Britain: Canadian Pacific’s
Greatest Ship and the editor of SeaFare, a quarterly newsletter on sea
travel.

No Canadian institution except possibly the Hudson’s Bay Company is as
rich in history as the Canadian Pacific Railway. What began as a
transcontinental railway eventually included a major steamship company,
a leading hotel chain, and an important airline. Since its incorporation
in 1881, Canadian Pacific’s story has been at times inseparable from
that of Canada itself.

David Laurence Jones provides us with more than 80 short accounts of
events and personalities that played a major or fleeting role in the
company’s history. Most stories are illustrated, using a nice blend of
familiar and lesser-known photographs. The tales are presented in random
order, which seems acceptable as the book does not purport to be a
chronological history of the company. Rather, it is simply an easily
readable assortment of anecdotes. Whether it is the vandalism caused by
itinerant harvesters wrecking CPR trains, problems of tunneling under
Rogers Pass, or preparing the Chвteau Frontenac for the Allied
leaders’ Quebec Conference in 1943, Jones provides us with stories
that illuminate the episodes, the times, and the people. As in most
books about Canadian Pacific, tales concerning the dynamic Sir William
Van Horne outnumber those about anyone else.

Tales of the CPR will appeal to the many devotees of the company and to
any other reader who wants to enjoy a satisfying collection that brings
our country’s past to light. Jones has stories to tell and he tells
them well.