Canadian Pacific Railway Completion
The Canadian Pacific Railway completion came on November 7, 1885, when director Donald Smith drove the last spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia, finishing Canada's first transcontinental railway to the Pacific coast.
What happened and why it matters
The Canadian Pacific joined Canada's provinces into one market, and its successor network remains a key freight link between Pacific ports and the interior of North America. Completing a railway to the Pacific was a condition of British Columbia joining Canada, and the line was finished about four years after construction began in earnest in 1881, years ahead of the government's deadline. Its use moving troops during the 1885 North-West Rebellion helped secure final government financing. Today Canadian railways carry containers from British Columbia ports to Chicago and other inland hubs, competing with US West Coast ports for Asian imports.
Related events
Sources
- Canadian Pacific Railway en.wikipedia.org
- Craigellachie thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
- Canada: The transcontinental railway britannica.com