CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 9 January 1936, Page 7

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY

OPERATES 20,000 MILES OF TRACK

One of the greatest transport systems in the world, the Canadian Pacific Railway has just celebrated its 50th birthday (writes Reuter’s Canadian News Service). Actually the company itself is older than that but it was in November, 1885, that the last spike was driven at Craigcllacliie (British Columbia) on the main line that spans the Canadian continent —the C.P.R.’s supreme achievement. The trans-continental railway runs from Montreal (Quebec) to Vancouver (British Columbia) and is 2,889 miles in length. It was the first railway built across the American continent. Altogether the C.P.R. operates 20,50 S miles of track, consisting of the 2,889 miles of main highway, 13,777 miles of branch lines and 4,202 miles of leased or controlled lines in the United States. The C.P.R., an integral part of Canadian life, has many other interests. It operates ocean steamship services to Europe, Japan, China and Manila, round-the-world cruises, and steamships on the Great Lakes and the interior and coastal waters of British Columbia. It also owns a chain of luxury. hotels in the chief cities of Canada. Amazing 'progress has taken place in Canada since the last spike was driven oil that epic: feat of railway construction. ‘ l ' Canada’s population lias more than doubled. The value of field crops lias trebled. Dairy production has increased SOO per cent. Mineral production has increased more than 2,000 per cent. Electric power has risen from nothing to 7,000,000 horse power. Manufactured products from 300,000,000 dollars ' (£60,000,000) to over 2,000,000,000 ( £400,000,000). External trade from 175,000,000 ( £35,000,000) to over 1,000,000,000(£200,000,000), Railway earnings have increased from about 30,000,000 dollars ( £6,00(h----000) to more than 270,000,000 ( £54,000,000). tm sobuh—■