Sea to Sea Railway – Canadian Pacific Railway

There are two main railway systems in Canada: the Canadian National and the Canadian Pacific. The Crown; The Government of Canada provides passenger transportation throughout the country through its railways. Annually, over 80 million passengers are transported by Canadian railways. Both railway systems are classified as class A, which means that their profits in the last two years have exceeded 250 million dollars. The primary mission of the Canadian Pacific Railway since its inception has been to physically unite Canadians from the West Coast to the East Coast.

The Canadian Pacific Railway, or as Canadians call it for short, CP Rail, stretches from Montreal to Vancouver. The construction of the railroad that connected the entire country took place between 1881 and 1885. Today, it is one of the tokens of the Canadian nation. The great importance of the Canadian Pacific Railway has been indisputable since its inception. It finally connected the east coast to the west coast and enabled the rapid transportation of people and goods, which is vital for a country the size of Canada.

At the end of the 17th century, the Canadian government promised to build a much-needed railway; with its construction, the necessary reliable connection across the entire continent was achieved. The railway was completed on November 7, 1885, six years ahead of schedule, with a total length of over 20,000 kilometers. In 1889, the railroad was extended from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast. The symbol of Canadian railways is the beaver, which represents strong Canadian nationalism and the persistent, hard work of many to build the railway. It should be emphasized that due to the geographical position of Canada, the railway played a role in the unification of the newly formed country. The unification created a confederation, and the territories were given the status of provinces.

For that era, Canada's railways were a epic wonder of engineering and technology. The cost of construction in those days was 52 million dollars. Due to the insufficient number of workers in Canada, workers from China and Europe participated in the construction of the railway. Risky work, especially tunneling through the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and taking the lives of thousands of workers, primarily Chinese.

A massive undertaking of great social and financial interest for the entire country could not come to pass without controversial events. Canada was going through great political changes and turmoil and it was necessary to secure ownership of the large territory on which the railway was planned. Politicians, in the interest of buying land, promised the Native Americans favorable contracts, which were ultimately not fulfilled and are still in dispute today. Namely, for the indigenous Indians, it was promised, but not fulfilled, the right to charge for the use of personal property, as well as free hunting, fishing and farming which even today has a negative impact for the social and economic status of their community.

With the help of the railway, Canada is connected to the rest of the world, which was especially important after the Second World War and had a decisive impact on immigration, the economy, and especially the development of tourism. The Canadian Pacific Railway played an important role in the settlement of previously inaccessible parts of the country, the introduction of the telegraph system (1882), and in addition to steam locomotives, it also owned a fleet of steam ships and airplanes. An interesting fact is that during the construction of the railway, the first rich deposit of natural gas in Canada was discovered quite accidentally in the town of Alderson, Alberta.

The Canadian Pacific Railway still works today with their headquarters located in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to transporting passengers and goods, it also hosts a large number of train excursions. A train journey across Canada takes a week, and in addition to visiting the cities on the route, passengers can enjoy the natural beauty that Canada undoubtedly has to offer..

The Canadian Pacific Railway was undeniably of historical importance to the entire country, and even in modern times it continues to be of inestimable value to Canada and its people. The new railway required precise and reliable timetables, and until the 1880s, every city in Canada freely defined its time zone based on the movement of the sun. To solve this problem, the Canadian engineer Fleming researched a universal way of applying time measurement and proposed dividing the entire planet into 24 time zones. Fleming's system called "Standard Time" has been used worldwide since 1885.

"Since it is impossible to export our beautiful nature, let's import tourists."

With this slogan, the Canadian Pacific Railway hired mountain guides from as far away as the Swiss Alps to work in the town of Golden, British Columbia from 1899 to 1954. These guides helped visitors to hike safely and enjoy the natural beauty of the region. Instructions for mountain rescue, avalanche control, freestyle skiing that are still applied today are based on the knowledge passed down by Swiss mountain guides. They left Canadians with a legacy of respect and admiration for the majestic mountain peaks in the west of the country