Canadas "iron Ribbon"

One of the best ways to see Canada is to take the train from Toronto to Vancouver

. Although rail travel has declined in recent years due to airplanes and motor vehicles, the 'Iron Ribbon' allows you to watch in comfort as some of the world's most spectacular views go by.

Until the middle of the 19th century, most of Canada was wild and unexplored. Its sheer size, poor roads and extreme winters made extended travel nearly impossible and, according to historian Pierre Berton, three-quarters of the population lived in comparative isolation on farms.

Even so, when the Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald proposed a coast to coast railway in 1871, he met with mockery and opposition. One Canadian politician thought his idea was one of the most foolish things that could be imagined; while another exclaimed his next project would be 'a railway to the moon'. The fact that the United States had completed such a feat 3 years earlier broke little ice. Canada not only had less money to spare and only 10% of America's population, but the railway would be much longer, having to cover the second largest area in the world.

Investors were just as reluctant to invest any of the $100 million estimated by Scottish railway engineer Sandford Fleming. Finally, work began in 1875 but ten years later it seemed the doubters may have been right about the project. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) had amassed debts of $400,000 in debt which it was unable to pay. On July 10, this money had to be paid before 3pm or the railway would be brought to a shuddering halt. At 2pm that day, the Canadian government finally came up with the money, allowing work to continue.

Thousands of Chinese labourers toiled for ten hours at a time in all conditions, including winter temperatures of -47C and huge drifts of snow. In Ontario, 30cm of solid rock forced workers to drag soil for miles to counteract the problem. Tunnels and bridges had to be built, especially through the Rocky Mountains.

But at last, the final spike was driven at Eagle Pass in British Columbia. The railroad now stretched from Canadas Atlantic coast in the East to the Pacific coast in the West, ending at Craigellachie, named for a place of Scottish resistance centuries before. From now on, commerce and industry would move forward, towns were built and food could be more rapidly transported. As a result, the Iron Ribbon is credited with having "released society from the bondage of dirt and mud" and "from the bondage of winter".

by: R Hardman

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