Railways - Canada: books - history and rolling stock

Canadian Pacific: Stand Fast, Craigellachie!

Explore the Canadian Pacific Railway in this landmark tribute, showcasing the work of leading North American rail photographers. The book encompasses the entire CPR system, from the east coast to the west coast, including Nova Scotia's Dominion Atlantic lines and Vancouver Island's Esquimalt and Nanaimo.
Featuring exceptional photography, the collection spans the best of steam and diesel, including 1950s-era shots of steeple-cab electrics and passenger trains on Electric Lines subsidiaries like the Grand River Railway and the Lake Erie and Northern.

"Canadian Pacific" immerses readers in the ambiance of historic wood-frame stations, where time was kept by Seth Thomas clocks, the elegance of stainless-steel luxury on The Canadian, the rugged allure of SD40s conquering mountain grades, and the solitude of a prairie wayfreight navigating grain empties.
This book captures the essence of the Canadian Pacific Railway, celebrating its diverse landscapes and iconic moments through captivating visuals and insightful essays.

Rails Across Canada : A Pictorial Journey from Coast to Coast

The railways of Canada, like the network in the United States, hold a worldwide fascination for train enthusiasts and travellers alike. The mere mention of a rail trip across Canada conjures up ideas of an epic journey.
The images in this book, of snow-laden firs and wild, open vistas, contrasted with full-length freight trains grinding through Union Station under the watch of the CN Tower, show that travelling by Canadian rail is such stuff as dreams are made on.

There are, however, distinctions between the Canadian network and that of the USA, due to the fact that in Canada it was largely projected and funded from Britain as part of the British Empire.
The two major networks were The Canadian National (privatised 1995) and The Canadian Pacific (now Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.), whose networks stretched out across this vast country. In addition to their rail operation, The Canadian Pacific owned and operated a sizable fleet of cargo and passenger ships which sailed between Europe and Canada.
In addition to these major players, smaller operations such as The Prince Edward Island Railway and The Newfoundland Railway helped to transport passengers and cargo throughout the land.

David Cable has journeyed across Canada for a number of years, extensively photographing the network of both the large and small operators, often recording scenes in the most obscure and yet fascinating locations.

Rails Across Ontario : Exploring Ontario's Railway Heritage

Takes the reader back to a time when the railway ruled the economy and the landscape. Read about historic stations, railway museums, heritage train rides, and historic bridges.

Follow old rail lines along Ontario's most popular rail trails. Find out where steam engines still puff across farm fields and where historic train coaches lead deep into the wilds of Ontario's scenic north country.

Discover long forgotten but once vital railway structures, such as roundhouses, coal docks, and water towers. Learn about regular VIA Rail routes that follow some of the province's oldest rail lines and pass some of its most historic stations, including one that has operated continuously since 1857.

Canadian Pacific in the Rockies

The Canadian Pacific Railway was built to unite all the Canadian Provinces with a transcontinental line running from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Many obstacles were encountered during construction including the Rocky Mountains, a formidable range of mountains in Western Alberta and Eastern British Columbia.
Originally planned to run further north, the line eventually crossed the Continental Divide at Kicking Horse Pass, a challenge to railway operating that still exists today despite the use of high-horsepower diesel locomotives.

Illustrated with unique photographs, taken over a number of years, this book covers the line from Exshaw, where it first encounters the Rockies, to Golden. The variety of traffic found on the line is shown against a backdrop of stunning scenery that is encountered along the line. Also detailed is the other Canadian Pacific line in the south of Alberta, which traverses Crowsnest Pass.

Great Western Railway of Canada: Southern Ontario's Pioneer Railway

This book chronicles the genesis and all-too-brief existence of one of Canada's greatest early railways, the Great Western Railway of Canada (1853-1882), a major precursor to the Canadian National Rail system.
Today, the Great Western Railway of Canada is a little-known historic line, overlooked even by many railway aficionados. But it was truly a railway ahead of its time.

It was a pioneer in combining land- and water-based transportation, including the introduction of river car-ferries and passenger/freight steamships on the Great Lakes. It made waves of a different kind with its acquisition of the American-owned railway linking Detroit, Grand Haven, and Milwaukee.
And its mammoth workshops were industrial monuments in Hamilton and London, Ontario, where inventive geniuses laboured to supply the booming rail trade of southern Ontario. It was the ancestor of some of the most heavily used rail lines in all of Canada.

This book has been written to do justice to a railway that truly must be considered one of Canada's trailblazing lines. Amply illustrated with previously unpublished photographs and a thorough historical record of the Great Western Railway's locomotives and rolling stock, it offers a ride back in time into the vanishing history of early Ontario railroading.

Toronto's Railway Heritage

On May 16, 1853, the first passenger train steamed out of Toronto from a wooden depot that was located near the site of today's Union Station. Over the next century, the railways had a profound impact on the geography and economic fortunes of Toronto and helped transform it from a provincial town into the commercial centre of Canada.

To the dismay of many, the railways also swallowed up prime real estate on Toronto's waterfront and isolated its citizens from Lake Ontario, the city's most scenic asset. The struggle between the promoters of unfettered railway development and crusaders for public access to the waterfront culminated during the 1920s with the building of the waterfront railway viaduct and Union Station. This magnificent Beaux-Arts railway terminal is the busiest transportation hub in Canada and is undergoing a $1.5 billion revitalization.

Inside this book are over 200 rare images illustrating 80 years of Toronto's railway history.

Rails Across the Prairies: The Railway Heritage of Canada's Prairie Provinces

Follow the evolution of the rail legacy of the Canadian Prairies from the arrival of the first engine on a barge to today's realities.
"Rails Across the Prairies" traces the evolution of Canada's rail network, including the appearance of the first steam engine on the back of a barge. The book looks at the arrival of European settlers before the railway and examines how they coped by using ferry services on the Assiniboine and North Saskatchewan Rivers.
The work then follows the building of the railways, the rivalries of their owners, and the unusual irrigation works of Canadian Pacific Railway. The towns were nearly all the creation of the railways from their layout to their often unusual names.

Eventually, the rail lines declined, though many are experiencing a limited revival. Learn what the heritage lover can still see of the Prairies' railway legacy, including existing rail operations and the stories the railways brought with them.
Many landmarks lie vacant, including ghost towns and elevators, while many others survive as museums or interpretative sites.

Iron Road West: An Illustrated History of British Columbia's Railways

British Columbia wouldn't exist without the railway; the province was brought into the Canadian Confederation in 1871 in exchange for the promise of a transcontinental line to the West Coast. It was the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886 that set off economic development in the province, created the city of Vancouver and spurred others to build competing lines.

In Iron Road West, Derek Hayes charts the development of the province through its railway lines, using a wealth of photographs and other visuals to show how rails were laid through the wild terrain that characterized much of British Columbia.

As railways revolutionized the province, they inevitably incited fierce competition and personal hatreds, creating an exciting frontier-like environment that Hayes describes in vivid detail.
The book also covers the emergence of the modern freight railway in British Columbia, including fully automated and computerized trains. An extensive section details our railway legacy, including preserved railways, locomotives and facilities that can still be visited today.
Prolifically illustrated, Iron Road West will fascinate not only railway enthusiasts, but anyone with an interest in the history of the province.

Locomotives of Western Canada

The mountains of Alberta and British Columbia in western Canada have always challenged the resolve of the railways that worked their way west, opening up the country. It was a new frontier that soon tested man and locomotive as trains crossed through a rugged and unforgiving territory.
Even today, the task continues as incredible amounts of tonnage are hauled over arduous mountain passes and through spectacular river canyons, powered by modern diesel locomotives.

With a stunning collection of previously unpublished photographs, Mike Danneman showcases these marvellous machines amid the splendour of some of the best mountain scenery in the world.

General Motors Type 5 - Class 66 Locomotives

Over the past generation the Class 66 has been one of Britain's most successful and reliable diesel locomotives. After being introduced in the late 1990s, the Class has been involved in various new contracts and has taken over from the older generation classes such as the Class 56. Now operated by five rival companies, the Class keeps on growing with more success.
Ross Taylor uses his excellent photographs to illustrate this fascinating Class.