1982 Hooping in Portage la Prairie & Photos from Points West

Here are a few photos from a 1982 run west on The Canadian. We flew back on CP Air. My new spouse only experienced northern Ontario by rail once on this trip. 

The round trips came later ... again and again ...

These photos come from 'the second camera' - and they never found their way into the zoom-lensed 'official account' of the trip because they were developed later. But they are interesting and they have been in a bit of a backwater for all these years.

Hooping up orders to an eastbound freight at Portage.

We patronized/travelled over three of CP Limited's five business units during this trip.

(But we didn't ship aboard CP Ships or use Fording coal to smelt any iron.)

Here is the (ground level) tea room at Chateau Lake Louise, where we stayed during a train travel layover.

We rented a car in Vancouver. 

Here, the second camera is handy when we encounter the Budd car on Vancouver Island.

We visited the museum at Duncan BC during this excursion.

Finally, here is a view in Vancouver's Chinatown. 

As of 2021, this is still the approved name for this business district (I checked to be on the safe side).

CP Robot Control Car 1024 in a westbound grain train at Lake Louise, 1982

 

The 1939 Royal Tour - Part 5 - Winnipeg to Victoria

Briskly, briskly we make our way across the broad prairies and travel into the foreboding mountain ranges, as the Royal Tour of 1939 completes its travel on the CPR system at Victoria, British Columbia. The following pages come from a presentation style book prepared by the railways for participants and the press. Earlier sections of this series can be found under the heading 'Royal Train of 1939' by pressing the "Railway Technology & Systems 04" index button above.

As usual, the standard railway maps are repeated and enlarged to better show detail.

The account begins before Winnipeg and at the end of this post, the first page of the return trip on the CNR is previewed.


As this is posted in early 2020, First Nations blockades of Canadian railways are in the news. Aspects of Canadian history as it was interpreted 80 years ago contrast with our greater historical literacy today.

This post contains fewer anecdotes from the trip, however one story gives us a perspective on life on the Prairies as it relates this event. Cast your mind back to early automobile or horse-powered transportation on Prairie dirt roads at the end of the Great Depression ...

After travelling for hours and hours some well-wishers would finally find themselves trackside along the CPR. After the tracks were unusually quiet for a while, the pilot train carrying the press and some officials would pass. Half an hour later, a headlight would appear down the tracks and excitement would build as the presence of the speeding Royal Train established itself. In seconds, the locomotive and cars roared and flashed by the small crowd. The King, Queen, Prime Minister, any recognizable politician or official ... none could be seen through the windows or on the rear platform of the train. The train quickly faded into the distance and everyone quietly began their long, long journey home.

I have always been interested in the following enterprise.
Finally, here are the photos which go with its mention on Page 75.

from: Commercial Canada; Ed: Fred Cook; circa 1913; Redman Book Co.

Commercial Canada; Ed: Fred Cook; circa 1913; Redman Book Co.

The plant was closed in 1957 and destroyed by fire in 1962.
However, here is the best 'current' Google view of the one surviving kiln in 2012.

Unused postcard, Calgary circa 1940.

Canadian Geographic Journal; July 1939.

Even though their day at the Banff Springs Hotel was supposed to be a well-earned day of rest,
the King and Queen still had to pose for photos, including some with Prime Minister Mackenzie King.

Apparently, the CPR 2850 deadheaded Banff to Calgary for
pre-planned shopping during this day or so that the consist didn't move.

An unused postcard circa 1920.

The CPR's odd assortment of tourist accommodations at Lake Louise can be seen.

Canadian Geographic Journal; July 1939.

The King and Queen tramp up the ballast and receive a floral presentation at Beavermouth.

Canadian Geographic Journal; July 1939.

Canadian Geographic Journal; July 1939.

Having hauled herself up into the cab, the Queen always conveys the idea
that you are making this the best day of her life.
It looks as if the King is behind her.

The royal couple rode in the cab of the Selkirk
up the helper grade from Beavermouth to Stoney Creek.

An unused postcard circa 1925.

The map is repeated above for your convenience and pleasure.

Canada - Descriptive Atlas; circa 1933; Minister of Immigration and Colonization.

The ornate map above can supplement some of the descriptive text.

Unused postcard.

Construction started on the Lion's Gate bridge in 1937 and it cannot be seen on this hand-coloured postcard.

Imperial Royal Canadian World Atlas; 1935; Geographical Publishing Co, Chicago.

Some 'ad wizard' must have come up with the name for that US-published atlas (image above).

CPR 1946 Eastbound through the Canadian Rockies

In 1946, the CPR was reorganizing and redeploying its world-wide assets and employees after the end of the Second World War. CPR shops had been used for the production of armoured vehicles, heavy guns and war materials. CPR trains and ships had been used to transport military personnel, weapons, supplies and commodities. And many CPR employees had joined the armed services. 

After the war ended there must have been many organizational headaches as everything and everybody who survived the war returned to take up their pre-war functions. There would have been deferred maintenance on the permanent way and obsolete or worn-out equipment to write off and scrap after the wartime 'maximum effort'.

And in the future ... there would be post-war whittling down of the CPR's stock of western lodges and their 'insomnia-proof beds' as automobiles and new paved roads permanently changed the vacation pursuits of North Americans. 

The wealthy could travel farther afield with the development of long-range piston-engined airliners and trans-ocean civilian airways. Between Canada and Europe, the airfield at Gander, Newfoundland was maintaining its essential wartime function as a stepping stone on the great circle route between continents.

*  *  *

Back down to earth ...

Below, are the descriptions and images used for the CPR line from Golden to Banff in their 1946 guidebook Eastbound through the Canadian Rockies. At the end of this piece I have included parts of a Government of Canada topographic map with data from 1980 showing the line from Lake Louise to Field. 

from: Google maps

See the photo at the top of page 45, below right ...

When you visit there, Mount Victoria (and related peaks) seems to form a claustrophobia-inducing wall right at the end of Lake Louise. However, these mountains are considerably beyond the end of the lake. This height of land forms the boundary between Alberta and British Columbia.