Canadian Northern Railway

Advertisement for hunting trips: deer, elk and bear (1898)

The Canadian Northern Railway is a former railroad company in Canada that operated from 1899 to 1923. Like the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway , it should compete with the successful transcontinental route of the Canadian Pacific Railway .

The company was founded in 1899 by William Mackenzie and Donald Mann through the merger of smaller railroad companies in Manitoba . The transcontinental connection was created less through the construction of a large, continuous new line, but rather through the purchase and merging of existing railway lines. In 1905 it reached Edmonton and in 1915 it finally operated a route from Montreal to Vancouver (the western terminus, Pacific Central station , could not be opened until 1919). The transcontinental route ran through Toronto , Winnipeg , Edmonton and crossed the Rocky Mountains at Yellowhead Pass near the route of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. After financial difficulties, the company was taken over by the Canadian government in 1918 and part of the Canadian National Railway (then Canadian National Railways ) in 1923 .

The Alberta Railway Museum is now located on a former site near Edmonton .

See also: History of the Railroad in North America

Web links

Commons : Canadian Northern Railway  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Canadian Northern Railway ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .