INNOVATION Centennial Collectors Edition January-February 2020

F E A T U R E

1885 CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LINKS EAST AND WEST

I n 1871, the Government of Canada promised the Government of British Columbia that it would build a transcontinental railway connecting BC to the system already linking Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia within 10 years. That commitment was not quite met—the railway took 14 years from BC’s joining federation to complete—but it was enough to make us Canadian. It was also enough to push early engineers to new heights. Working in difficult and dangerous conditions, they toiled alongside thousands of labourers, including as many as 17,000 Chinese workers (paid $1.00 a day), to build a transportation link that proved vital to the success of our young, far-flung country. By establishing its western headquarters in Vancouver, the Canadian Pacific Railway also ensured a new and steady market for resident civil and mechanical engineers.

One of the many great engineering feats of the Canadian Pacific Railway: the ScowWash Bridge, 1885. C ity of V ancouver A rchives , CAN N131

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