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Ottawa Valley Railway

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Ottawa Valley Railway ( reporting mark RLK ) is a Canadian railway that operates 150 miles (240 km) of track in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec , and is owned by Genesee & Wyoming Canada Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc.

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83-477: The railroad began operations on 30 October 1996 under the auspices of RaiLink Canada, and fell under the control of RailAmerica after that company bought RaiLink in July 1999. It was formed to operate both local trains and through-service Canadian Pacific Railway trains between Sudbury, Ontario and Smiths Falls, Ontario . On July 23, 2012, Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in

166-766: A 999-year lease on the O&;Q on January 4, 1884. In 1895, it acquired a minority interest in the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway , giving it a link to New York and the Northeast United States. The last spike in the CPR was driven on November 7, 1885, by one of its directors, Donald Smith. The first transcontinental passenger train departed from Montreal 's Dalhousie Station , at Berri Street and Notre Dame Street, at 8 pm on June 28, 1886, and arrived at Port Moody at noon on July 4. This train consisted of two baggage cars,

249-431: A dining car or restaurant car to allow passengers to have a meal during the course of their journey. Trains travelling overnight may also have sleeping cars . Currently, much of travel on these distances of over 500 miles (800 km) is done by air in many countries but in others long-distance travel by rail is a popular or the only cheap way to travel long distances. One notable and growing long-distance train category

332-823: A London-based hedge fund that owns 6% of the company. The creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway was undertaken as the National Dream by the Conservative government of John A. Macdonald , together with mining magnate Alexander Tilloch Galt . As a condition for joining the Canadian Confederation , British Columbia had insisted on a transport link to the East, with the rest of the Confederation. In 1873, Macdonald, among other high-ranking politicians, bribed in

415-485: A commitment extended to British Columbia when it entered Confederation in 1871; the CPR was Canada's first transcontinental railway . Primarily a freight railway, the CPR was for decades the only practical means of long-distance passenger transport in most regions of Canada and was instrumental in the colonization and development of Western Canada. The CPR became one of the largest and most powerful companies in Canada,

498-523: A corporate reorganization, each of the major operations, including its rail operations, were organized as separate subsidiaries. The name of the railway was changed to CP Rail, and the parent company changed its name to Canadian Pacific Limited in 1971. Its air, express, telecommunications, hotel and real estate holdings were spun off, and ownership of all of the companies transferred to Canadian Pacific Investments. The slogan was: "TO THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD". The company discarded its beaver logo, adopting

581-462: A day, paid in rice mats, and not including expenses, leaving barely anything to send home. They did the most dangerous construction jobs, such as working with explosives to clear tunnels through rock. The exact number of Chinese workers who died is unknown, but historians estimate the number is between 600 and 800. By 1883, railway construction was progressing rapidly, but the CPR was in danger of running out of funds. In response, on January 31, 1884,

664-478: A deal valued at $ 1.39 billion. Approval of the purchase was granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board on December 19, 2012. Currently, the OVR operates between Sudbury and Temiscaming, Quebec , reduced from its original routing between Sudbury and Smiths Falls with a branch to Temiscaming. The rerouting came about as a result of the reduction of both local traffic on the line and through traffic operated by

747-572: A fixed schedule and have priority over freight trains . Passenger trains may be made up of a number of passenger cars hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be made up of self-propelled railcars . Car design and the general safety of passenger trains have dramatically evolved over time, making travel by rail remarkably safe. Some passenger trains, both long-distance and short-distance, use bi-level (double-decker) cars to carry more passengers per train. Passenger trains hauled by locomotives are more expensive to operate than multiple units, but have

830-469: A fleet of over a thousand Colonist cars , low-budget sleeper cars designed to transport immigrant families from eastern Canadian seaports to the west. During the first decade of the 20th century, the CPR continued to build more lines. In 1908, the CPR opened a line connecting Toronto with Sudbury . Several operational improvements were also made to the railway in Western Canada. On November 3, 1909,

913-591: A higher passenger capacity. Many prestigious passenger train services have been bestowed a special name , some of which have become famous in literature and fiction. The first occasion on which a railway locomotive pulled a train carrying passengers was in the United Kingdom in 1804, at Penydarren Ironworks in Wales , when 70 employees of the ironworks were transported 9 miles by an engine designed by Richard Trevithick . The first passenger train in regular service

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996-501: A mail car, one second-class coach, two immigrant sleepers, two first-class coaches, two sleeping cars and a diner (several dining cars were used throughout the journey, as they were removed from the train during the night, with another one added the next morning). By that time, however, the CPR had decided to move its western terminus from Port Moody to Granville , which was renamed "Vancouver" later that year. The first official train destined for Vancouver arrived on May 23, 1887, although

1079-449: A million troops and passengers and four million tons of cargo. Twenty seven survived and returned to CPR. CPR also helped the war effort with money and jobs. CPR made loans and guarantees to the Allies of some $ 100 million. As a lasting tribute, CPR commissioned three statues and 23 memorial tablets to commemorate the efforts of those who fought and those who died in the war. After the war,

1162-618: A more aggressive construction policy; bonds were floated in London and called for tenders to complete sections of the railway in British Columbia. American contractor Andrew Onderdonk was selected, and his men began construction on May 15, 1880. In October 1880, a new consortium signed a contract with the Macdonald government, agreeing to build the railway for $ 25 million in credit and 25 million acres (100,000 km ) of land. In addition,

1245-751: A position it held as late as 1975. The company acquired two American lines in 2009: the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) and the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad (IC&E). Also, the company owns the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad , a Hammond, Indiana -based terminal railroad along with Conrail Shared Assets Operations . CPR purchased the Kansas City Southern Railway in December 2021 for US$ 31 billion . On April 14, 2023, KCS became

1328-756: A series of different owners since being spun off of the Canadian Pacific in 1995. The first operator was the Canadian American Railroad a division of Iron Road Railways . In 2002 the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic took over operations after CDAC declared bankruptcy. The Central, Maine and Quebec Railway started operations in 2014 after the MMA declared bankruptcy due to the Lac-Mégantic derailment. On this new acquisition, CP CEO Keith Creel remarked that this gives CP

1411-884: A significant port on the Atlantic Ocean. The CPR acquired the Quebec Central Railway on December 14, 1912. During the late 19th century, the railway undertook an ambitious program of hotel construction, building Glacier House in Glacier National Park , Mount Stephen House at Field, British Columbia , the Château Frontenac in Quebec City and the Banff Springs Hotel . By then, the CPR had competition from three other transcontinental lines, all of them money-losers. In 1919, these lines were consolidated into

1494-1098: A train consisting of a single passenger car (carriage, coach) with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g. the Great Western Railway , used the term " railmotor ". If the railcar is able to pull a full train, it is more likely to be called a " motor coach " or a "motor car". The term "railcar" is sometimes also used as an alternative name for the small types of multiple unit that consist of more than one coach. Rapid transit trains are trains that operate in urban areas on exclusive rights-of-way in that pedestrians and road vehicles may not access them. Light rails are electrically powered urban passenger trains that run along an exclusive rights-of-way at ground level, raised structures, tunnels, or in streets. Light rail systems generally use lighter equipment that operate at slower speeds to allow for more flexibility in integrating systems into urban environments. Trams (also known as streetcars in North America) are

1577-522: A true coast-to-coast network across Canada and an increased presence in New England. On June 4, 2020; Canadian Pacific bought the Central Maine and Quebec. On March 21, 2021, CP announced that it was planning to purchase the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCS) for US$ 29 billion. The US Surface Transportation Board (STB) would first have to approve the purchase, which was expected to be completed by

1660-411: A type of passenger train that runs a tramway track on or alongside public urban streets, often including segments of right-of-way for passengers and vehicles. Heritage trains are often operated by volunteers, often railfans , as a tourist attraction or as a museum railway. Usually, the trains are formed from historic vehicles retired from national commercial operation that have retained or assumed

1743-598: A wholly owned subsidiary of CPR, and both CPR and its subsidiaries began doing business under the name of its parent company, CPKC . The CPR is publicly traded on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CP. Its U.S. headquarters are in Minneapolis . As of March 30, 2023, the largest shareholder of Canadian Pacific stock exchange is TCI Fund Management Limited ,

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1826-650: Is high-speed rail, which generally runs at speeds above 200 km/h (120 mph) and often operates on a dedicated track that is surveyed and prepared to accommodate high speeds. The first successful example of a high-speed passenger rail system was Japan's Shinkansen , colloquially known as the "bullet train", which commenced operation in October 1964. Other examples include Italy's LeFrecce , France's TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse, literally "high speed train"), Germany's ICE (Inter-City Express), and Spain's AVE (Alta Velocidad Española). In most cases, high-speed rail travel

1909-440: Is time- and cost-competitive with air travel when distances do not exceed 500 to 600 km (310 to 370 mi), as airport check-in and boarding procedures can add at least two hours to the overall transit time. Also, rail operating costs over these distances may be lower when the amount of jet fuel consumed by an airliner during takeoff and climbout is taken into consideration. Air travel becomes more cost-competitive as

1992-640: The Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1989, which liberalized trade between the two nations, the CPR's expansion continued during the early 1990s: CP Rail gained full control of the Soo Line in 1990, adding the "System" to the former's name, and bought the Delaware and Hudson Railway in 1991. These two acquisitions gave CP Rail routes to the major American cities of Chicago (via the Soo Line and Milwaukee Road as part of its historically logical route) and New York City (via

2075-587: The Delaware and Hudson Railway in the northeastern United States. However, the new subsidiary, threatened with being sold off and free to innovate, quickly spun off money-losing track to short lines, instituted scheduled freight service, and produced an unexpected turn-around in profitability. On 1 January 2001 the StL&;H was formally amalgamated with the CP Rail system. In 2001, the CPR's parent company, Canadian Pacific Limited , spun off its five subsidiaries, including

2158-680: The Huron Central Railway at Sudbury. The railway once hauled around 70,000 carloads a year, the majority of which came from CP's intermodal bridge traffic. The rest of it was self-generated, and included chemicals and forest products. Very little of this traffic came from east of Mattawa. As of 2013, carloadings amount to approximately 8,000 per year. Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway ( French : Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique ) ( reporting marks CP , CPAA , MILW , SOO ), also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996),

2241-505: The Kettle Valley Railway in British Columbia, was built in response to the booming mining and smelting economy in southern British Columbia, and the tendency of the local geography to encourage and enable easier access from neighbouring US states than from Vancouver or the rest of Canada, which was viewed to be as much of a threat to national security as it was to the province's control of its own resources. The local passenger service

2324-655: The Lethbridge Viaduct over the Oldman River valley at Lethbridge , Alberta, was opened. It is 1,624 metres (5,328 feet) long and, at its maximum, 96 metres (315 feet) high, making it one of the longest railway bridges in Canada. In 1916, the CPR replaced its line through Rogers Pass , which was prone to avalanches (the most serious of which killed 62 men in 1910) with the Connaught Tunnel , an eight-kilometre-long (5-mile) tunnel under Mount Macdonald that was, at

2407-643: The New Brunswick Railway in 1891 for 991 years, and built the International Railway of Maine , connecting Montreal with Saint John, New Brunswick , in 1889. The connection with Saint John on the Atlantic coast made the CPR the first truly transcontinental railway company in Canada and permitted trans-Atlantic cargo and passenger services to continue year-round when sea ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence closed

2490-807: The Pacific Scandal , granted contracts to the Canada Pacific Railway Company, which was unrelated to the current company, as opposed to the Inter-Ocean Railway Company, which was thought to have connections to the Northern Pacific Railway Company in the United States. After this scandal, the Conservatives were removed from power, and Alexander Mackenzie , the new Liberal prime minister, ordered construction of

2573-606: The Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa & Occidental Railway from the Quebec government and by creating a new railway company, the Ontario and Quebec Railway (O&Q). It also launched a fleet of Great Lakes ships to link its terminals. Through the O&Q, the CPR had effected purchases and long-term leases of several railways, and built a line between Perth, Ontario , and Toronto (completed on May 5, 1884) to connect these acquisitions. The CPR obtained

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2656-684: The United States began in the 1830s and became popular in the 1850s and '60s. The first electric passenger train was exhibited at the Berlin Industrial Exposition 1879 . The first successful commercial electric passenger train, the Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway , ran a year later in Lichterfelde . Long-distance trains travel between many cities or regions of a country, and sometimes cross several countries. They often have

2739-564: The last spike was driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia . Four days earlier, the last spike of the Lake Superior section was driven in just west of Jackfish, Ontario . While the railway was completed four years after the original 1881 deadline, it was completed more than five years ahead of the new date of 1891 that Macdonald gave in 1881. In Eastern Canada, the CPR had created a network of lines reaching from Quebec City to St. Thomas, Ontario , by 1885 – mainly by buying

2822-582: The " Crow Rate " was permanently replaced by the Western Grain Transportation Act , which allowed the gradual increase of grain shipping prices. The Crowsnest Pass line opened on June 18, 1898, and followed a complicated route through the maze of valleys and passes in southern British Columbia, rejoining the original mainline at Hope after crossing the Cascade Mountains via Coquihalla Pass . The Southern Mainline, generally known as

2905-480: The 1950s, the railway introduced new innovations in passenger service. In 1955, it introduced The Canadian , a new luxury transcontinental train. However, in the 1960s, the company started to pull out of passenger services, ending services on many of its branch lines. It also discontinued its secondary transcontinental train The Dominion in 1966, and in 1970, unsuccessfully applied to discontinue The Canadian . For

2988-421: The CPR, into independent companies. In September 2007, CPR announced it was acquiring the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad from London-based Electra Private Equity . The merger was completed as of October 31, 2008. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. trains resumed regular operations on June 1, 2012, after a nine-day strike by some 4,800 locomotive engineers, conductors and traffic controllers who walked off

3071-482: The CPR, to action. During this time the railway land grants were formalized. The Great Depression , which lasted from 1929 until 1939, hit many companies heavily. While the CPR was affected, it was not affected to the extent of its rival CNR because it, unlike the CNR, was debt-free. The CPR scaled back on some of its passenger and freight services and stopped issuing dividends to its shareholders after 1932. Hard times led to

3154-478: The Canadian Pacific. As traffic was reduced on other CP routes, that railway was able to redirect trains onto its lines through Toronto , and RailAmerica's lease on the line to the east of Petawawa, Ontario ended in December 2009. The OVR continued operating the route between Sudbury and Temiscaming, and in early October 2010, RailAmerica and CP reached a new agreement under which those operations would continue, while CP would continue procedures for ending service to

3237-592: The Canadian government to build the railway, the CPR was granted 100,000 square kilometres (25 million acres). Canadian Pacific then began an intense campaign to bring immigrants to Canada; its agents operated in many overseas locations, where immigrants were often sold a package that included passage on a CP ship, travel on a CP train and land sold by the CP railway. Land was priced at $ 2.50 an acre and up but required cultivation. To transport immigrants, Canadian Pacific developed

3320-753: The D&;H). During the 1990s, both CP Rail and CN attempted unsuccessfully to buy out the eastern assets of the other, so as to permit further rationalization. In 1996, CP Rail moved its head office from Windsor Station in Montreal to Gulf Canada Square in Calgary and changed its name back to Canadian Pacific Railway. A new subsidiary company, the St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway , was created to operate its money-losing lines in eastern North America, covering Quebec , Southern and Eastern Ontario , trackage rights to Chicago, Illinois , (on Norfolk Southern lines from Detroit ) as well as

3403-609: The Department of Railways and Canals and turned over to the company in May 1883. By the end of 1883, the railway had reached the Rocky Mountains, just 8 km (5.0 mi) east of Kicking Horse Pass. The treacherous 190 km (120 mi) of railway west of Fort William was completed by Purcell & Company, headed by "Canada's wealthiest and greatest railroad contractor," industrialist Hugh Ryan . Many thousands of navvies worked on

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3486-470: The Federal government created Canadian National Railways (CNR, later CN) out of several bankrupt railways that fell into government hands during and after the war. CNR would become the main competitor to the CPR in Canada. In 1923, Henry Worth Thornton replaced David Blyth Hanna becoming the second president of the CNR, and his competition spurred Edward Wentworth Beatty , the first Canadian-born president of

3569-729: The Kicking Horse River just after the Trans Canada Highway overpass. The three crew members on the lead locomotive were killed. The Canadian Pacific Police Service (CPPS) investigated the fatal derailment. It later came to light that, although Creel said that the RCMP "retain jurisdiction" over the investigation, the RCMP wrote that "it never had jurisdiction because the crash happened on CP property". On January 26, 2020, Canadian current affairs program The Fifth Estate broadcast an episode on

3652-411: The Quebec government added the CPR, along with lessor World Fuel Services (WFS), to the list of corporate entities from which it seeks reimbursement for the environmental cleanup of the Lac-Mégantic derailment. On July 15, the press reported that CP would appeal the legal order. On October 12, 2014, it was reported that Canadian Pacific had tried to enter into a merger with American railway CSX , but

3735-419: The United States, stretching from Montreal to Vancouver , and as far north as Edmonton . Its rail network also served Minneapolis–St. Paul , Milwaukee , Detroit , Chicago , and Albany, New York , in the United States. The railway was first built between eastern Canada and British Columbia between 1875 and 1885 (connecting with Ottawa Valley and Georgian Bay area lines built earlier), fulfilling

3818-399: The character, appearance, and operating practices of railways in their time. Sometimes lines that operate in isolation also provide transport facilities for local people. Much of the equipment used on these trains' systems is original or at least aims to replicate both the look and the operating practices of historic/former railways companies. Passenger rail is one of the modes of travel with

3901-631: The company could not use a voting trust to assume control of KCS, due to concerns about potentially reduced competition in the railroad industry. Passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self propelled passenger trains are known as multiple units or railcars . Passenger trains stop at stations or depots , where passengers may board and disembark. In most cases, passenger trains operate on

3984-645: The controlling interests of the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway (TH&B) from Conrail and molded it into the Canadian Pacific System, dissolving the TH&;B's name from the books in 1985. In 1987, most of CPR's trackage in the Great Lakes region, including much of the original Soo Line, were spun off into a new railway, the Wisconsin Central , which was subsequently purchased by CN . Influenced by

4067-810: The conventional rail infrastructure to support trains that can operate safely at higher speeds. Many cities and their surrounding areas are served by commuter trains (also known as suburban trains), which serve commuters who live outside of the city they work in, or vice versa. More specifically, in the United States commuter rail service is defined as, "short-haul rail passenger transportation in metropolitan and suburban areas usually having reduced fare, multiple ride, and commuter tickets and morning and evening peak period operations". Trains are very efficient for transporting large numbers of people at once, compared to road transport. While automobiles may be delayed by traffic congestion , trains operate on dedicated rights-of-way which allow them to bypass such congestion. With

4150-609: The country. Additionally, 22 of the CPR's ships went to war, 12 of which were sunk. After the Second World War, the transportation industry in Canada changed. Where railways had previously provided almost universal freight and passenger services, cars, trucks and airplanes started to take traffic away from railways. This naturally helped the CPR's air and trucking operations, and the railway's freight operations continued to thrive hauling resource traffic and bulk commodities. However, passenger trains quickly became unprofitable. During

4233-505: The country. The CPR and the CNR shared the honours of pulling the royal train across the country, with the CPR undertaking the westbound journey from Quebec City to Vancouver. Later that year, the Second World War began. As it had done in World War I, the CPR devoted much of its resources to the war effort. It retooled its Angus Shops in Montreal to produce Valentine tanks and other armoured vehicles, and transported troops and resources across

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4316-603: The creation of new political parties such as the Social Credit movement and the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation , as well as popular protest in the form of the On-to-Ottawa Trek . One highlight of the late 1930s, both for the railway and for Canada, was the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth during their 1939 royal tour of Canada , the first time that the reigning monarch had visited

4399-587: The derailment, and the next day the Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) called for the RCMP to investigate as lead investigator Don Crawford said, "There is enough to suspect there's negligence here and it needs to be investigated by the proper authority". On February 4, 2020, the TSB demoted its lead investigator in the crash probe after his superiors decided these comments were "completely inappropriate". The TSB stated that it "does not share

4482-447: The derailment. Part of the compromise was to accept GO Transit commuter rail service along the Galt Subdivision corridor up to Milton, Ontario . Limited trains ran along the Milton line on weekdays only. Expansions to Cambridge, Ontario may be coming in the future. In 1984, CP Rail commenced construction of the Mount Macdonald Tunnel to augment the Connaught Tunnel under the Selkirk Mountains . The first revenue train passed through

4565-443: The east of Mattawa . On 3 August 2011, it was announced that the rails between Renfrew and Pembroke, Ontario were planned to be removed by the end of the year, with the remainder of the Mattawa—Smiths Falls route to be removed in following years. The OVR interchanges with the Canadian Pacific at Sudbury, as well as with the Canadian National Railway at North Bay, Ontario , the Ontario Northland Railroad at North Bay, and

4648-411: The first spike was driven into a sunken railway tie. That was the point where the Canada Central Railway (CCR) extension ended. The CCR started in Brockville and extended to Pembroke. It then followed a westward route along the Ottawa River and continued to Mattawa at the confluence of the Mattawa and Ottawa rivers. It then proceeded to Bonfield. It was presumed that the railway would travel through

4731-411: The furthest points of the journey. This practice allows less populous communities to be served in the most cost-effective way, at the expense of a longer journey time for those wishing to travel to the terminus station. Higher-speed rail services operate at top speeds that are higher than conventional inter-city trains but below high-speed rail services. These services are provided after improvements to

4814-463: The government defrayed surveying costs and exempted the railway from property taxes for 20 years. A beaver was chosen as the railway's logo in honour of Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal , who had risen from factor to governor of the Hudson's Bay Company over a lengthy career in the beaver fur trade. Building the railway took over four years. The Canadian Pacific Railway began its westward expansion from Bonfield, Ontario , where

4897-477: The government passed the Railway Relief Bill, providing a further $ 22.5 million in loans to the CPR. The bill received royal assent on March 6, 1884. In March 1885, the North-West Rebellion broke out in the District of Saskatchewan . Van Horne, in Ottawa at the time, suggested to the government that the CPR could transport troops to Qu'Appelle in the District of Assiniboia in 10 days. Some sections of track were incomplete or had not been used before, but

4980-519: The government-owned Canadian National Railways . During the First World War, CPR put the entire resources of the "world's greatest travel system" at the disposal of the British Empire , not only trains and tracks, but also its ships, shops, hotels, telegraphs and, above all, its people. Aiding the war effort meant transporting and billeting troops; building and supplying arms and munitions; arming, lending and selling ships. Fifty-two CPR ships were pressed into service during World War I, carrying more than

5063-429: The job on May 23, stalling Canadian freight traffic and costing the economy an estimated CA$ 80 million ( US$ 77 million ). The strike ended with a government back-to-work bill forcing both sides to come to a binding agreement . On July 6, 2013, a unit train of crude oil which CP had subcontracted to short-line operator Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway derailed in Lac-Mégantic , killing 47. On August 14, 2013,

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5146-493: The left bank of the Kaministiquia River in the District of Thunder Bay, about four miles upriver from Fort William. Once completed in 1882 with a last spike at Feist Lake, near Vermilion Bay, Ontario , the line was turned over to the newly-minted private Canadian Pacific Railway company. In 1883, the first wheat shipment from Manitoba was transported over this line to the Lakehead (Fort William and Port Arthur) on Lake Superior. Macdonald would later return as prime minister and adopt

5229-489: The line had already been in use for three months. The CPR quickly became profitable, and all loans from the federal government were repaid years ahead of time. In 1888, a branch line was opened between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie where the CPR connected with the American railway system and its own steamships. That same year, work was started on a line from London, Ontario , to the Canada–US border at Windsor, Ontario . That line opened on June 12, 1890. The CPR also leased

5312-403: The middle of 2022. However, a competing cash and stock offer was later made by Canadian National Railway (CN) on April 20 at $ 33.7 billion. On 13 May, KCS announced that they planned to accept the merger offer from CN, but would give CP until May 21 to come up with a higher bid. On May 21, KCS and CN agreed to a merger. However, CN's merger attempt was blocked by a STB ruling in August that

5395-433: The new Multimark (which, when mirrored by an adjacent "multi-mark" creates a diamond appearance on a globe) that was used – with a different colour background – for each of its operations. On November 10, 1979, a derailment of a hazardous materials train in Mississauga, Ontario , led to the evacuation of 200,000 people; there were no fatalities. Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion threatened to sue Canadian Pacific for

5478-460: The next eight years, it continued to apply to discontinue the service, and service on The Canadian declined markedly. On October 29, 1978, CP Rail transferred its passenger services to Via Rail , a new federal Crown corporation that is responsible for managing all intercity passenger service formerly handled by both CP Rail and CN. Via eventually took almost all of its passenger trains, including The Canadian , off CP's lines. In 1968, as part of

5561-438: The port of Montreal during the winter months. By 1896, competition with the Great Northern Railway for traffic in southern British Columbia forced the CPR to construct a second line across the province, south of the original line. Van Horne, now president of the CPR, asked for government aid, and the government agreed to provide around $ 3.6 million to construct a railway from Lethbridge, Alberta , through Crowsnest Pass to

5644-402: The railway under the supervision of the Department of Public Works. Enabled by the CPR Act of 1874, work began in 1875 on the Lake Superior to Manitoba section of the CPR. The ceremonial sod-turning at Westfort on June 1, 1875, was prominently reported in the June 10 edition of the Toronto Globe . It noted that a crowd of "upwards of 500 ladies and gentlemen" gathered to celebrate the event on

5727-475: The railway. Many were European immigrants. An unknown number of Stoney Nakoda also assisted in track laying and construction work in the Kicking Horse Pass region. In British Columbia, government contractors eventually hired 17,000 workers from China, known as " coolies ". After 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 months of hard labour, they could net as little as $ 16 ($ 485 in 2023 adjusted for inflation) Chinese labourers in British Columbia made only between 75 cents and $ 1.25

5810-418: The renowned railway executive William Cornelius Van Horne to oversee construction. Van Horne stated that he would have 800 km (500 mi) of main line built in 1882. Floods delayed the start of the construction season, but over 672 km (418 mi) of main line, as well as sidings and branch lines, were built that year. The Thunder Bay branch (west from Fort William ) was completed in June 1882 by

5893-409: The rich "fertile belt" of the North Saskatchewan River Valley and cross the Rocky Mountains via the Yellowhead Pass . However, a more southerly route across the arid Palliser's Triangle in Saskatchewan and via Kicking Horse Pass and down the Field Hill to the Rocky Mountain Trench was chosen. In 1881, construction progressed at a pace too slow for the railway's officials who, in 1882, hired

5976-522: The same trackage (though not simultaneously), as well as producing a more comfortable ride for passengers. "Inter-city" is a general term for any rail service that uses trains with limited stops to provide fast long-distance travel. Inter-city services can be divided into three major groups: The distinction between the three types of inter-city rail service may be unclear; trains can run as InterCity services between major cities, then revert to an express (or even regional) train service to reach communities at

6059-469: The south shore of Kootenay Lake , in exchange for the CPR agreeing to reduce freight rates in perpetuity for key commodities shipped in Western Canada. The controversial Crowsnest Pass Agreement effectively locked the eastbound rate on grain products and westbound rates on certain "settlers' effects" at the 1897 level. Although temporarily suspended during the First World War , it was not until 1983 that

6142-597: The time of its opening, the longest railway tunnel in the Western Hemisphere . On January 21, 1910, a passenger train derailed on the CPR line at the Spanish River bridge at Nairn, Ontario (near Sudbury ), killing at least 43. On January 3, 1912, the CPR acquired the Dominion Atlantic Railway , a railway that ran in western Nova Scotia . This acquisition gave the CPR a connection to Halifax ,

6225-697: The travel distance increases because the fuel accounts for less of the overall operating cost of the airliner. Some high-speed rail systems employ tilting technology to improve stability in curves. Examples of tilting trains are the Advanced Passenger Train (APT), the Pendolino , the N700 Series Shinkansen , Amtrak 's Acela and the Spanish Talgo . Tilting is a dynamic form of superelevation , allowing both low- and high-speed traffic to use

6308-458: The trip to Winnipeg was made in nine days and the rebellion quickly suppressed. Controversially, the government subsequently reorganized the CPR's debt and provided a further $ 5 million loan. This money was desperately needed by the CPR. Even with Van Horne's support with moving troops to Qu'Appelle, the government still delayed in giving its support to CPR, due to Macdonald pressuring George Stephen for additional benefits. On November 7, 1885,

6391-591: The tunnel in 1988. At 14.7 km (nine miles), it is the longest tunnel in the Americas. During the 1980s, the Soo Line Railroad , in which CP Rail still owned a controlling interest, underwent several changes. It acquired the Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway in 1982. Then on February 21, 1985, the Soo Line obtained a controlling interest in the bankrupt Milwaukee Road , merging it into its system on January 1, 1986. Also in 1980, Canadian Pacific bought out

6474-399: The use of bilevel cars , which are tall enough to have two levels of seating, commuter rail services can haul as many as 150 commuters per train car, and over 1,000 per train: much more than the capacity of automobiles and buses. In British and Australian usage, a "railcar" is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term is usually used in reference to

6557-677: The view of the lead safety investigator". The CPPS say they did a thorough investigation into the actions of the crew, which is now closed and resulted in no charges, while the Alberta Federation of Labour and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference called for an independent police probe. On November 20, 2019, it was announced that Canadian Pacific would purchase the Central Maine and Quebec Railway from Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors . The line has had

6640-478: Was a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited , known until 2023 as Canadian Pacific Railway Limited , which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001. The railway is headquartered in Calgary , Alberta. In 2023, the railway owned approximately 20,100 kilometres (12,500 mi) of track in seven provinces of Canada and into

6723-661: Was a horse drawn train on the Swansea and Mumbles Railway which opened in 1807. In 1808, Trevithick ran a passenger-carrying exhibition train called Catch Me Who Can on a small loop of track in London. The exhibition, which ran for two weeks, charged passengers for rides. The first steam train carrying passengers on a public railway was hauled by Locomotion No. 1 on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 , traveling at speeds up to 15 miles per hour. Travel by passenger trains in

6806-562: Was re-routed to this new southerly line, which connected numerous emergent small cities across the region. Independent railways and subsidiaries that were eventually merged into the CPR in connection with this route were the Shuswap and Okanagan Railway , the Kaslo and Slocan Railway , the Columbia and Kootenay Railway , the Columbia and Western Railway and various others. Under the initial contract with

6889-548: Was unsuccessful. In 2015–16 Canadian Pacific sought to merge with American railway Norfolk Southern . and wanted to have a shareholder vote on it. CP ultimately terminated its efforts to merge on April 11, 2016. On February 4, 2019, a loaded grain train ran away from the siding at Partridge just above the Upper Spiral Tunnel in Kicking Horse Pass . The 112-car grain train with three locomotives derailed into

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