Grand Trunk Pacific Railway

Proposal

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) transcontinental and its feeder routes operated closer to the Canada–US border. Seeking a transcontinental to open up the central latitudes, the Government of Canada made overtures to the GTR and Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR). Both these regional operators in eastern^[2] and central Canada initially declined, because projected traffic volumes suggested unlikely profitability.^[3] Realizing expansion was essential, a GTR attempt to amalgamate with the CNoR proved unsuccessful. The GTR finally negotiated to construct only the western section, financed entirely by government loans, while the federal government would build the eastern sections as the NTR. The respective legislation passed in 1903.

Nearer to Asia than Vancouver, Port Simpson^[4] was located about 20 km southeast of the southern entrance to the Portland Canal (which forms part of the boundary between British Columbia and Alaska). In 1903, when friction arose in Canada over the Alaska boundary decision favouring US interests, US President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to send an occupation force to nearby territory. In response, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier changed the terminal location to the more easily defendable Kaien Island (Prince Rupert).^[5]

Construction

Overview

The Last Spike: Fort Fraser, BC, 1914

During the official ceremony on September 11, 1905 at Fort William, Ontario, Prime Minister Laurier turned the first sod for the construction of the GTPR. From there, the Grand Trunk Pacific Construction Company built a 190-mile section of track, connecting with the NTR near Sioux Lookout. For contractual purposes, Winnipeg to Wolf Creek (Edson, Alberta) was the Prairie Section, and Wolf Creek to the Pacific was the Mountain Section.^[6] Foley, Welch and Stewart (FW&S) was selected as the prime contractor for the latter.^[7]

Construction began on the Canadian Prairies in 1905, the year that the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were established, proceeding west to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1907, and Edmonton, Alberta in 1909. The GTPR followed the original Sandford Fleming "Canadian Pacific Survey" route from Jasper, Alberta through the Yellowhead Pass,^[7] and the track-laying machine crossed the BC/Alberta border in November 2011.^[8] The more northerly Pine Pass option, as specified in its charter, may have been a better choice in terms of developing traffic, and in improving the current CNR network (especially if the later Pacific Great Eastern Railway route had opted for the Monkman Pass crossing).

To secure concessions from the BC provincial government, eastward construction from the Pacific Coast began in 1907.^[9] The last spike ceremony, heralding completion of the rail line across the prairies, through the Canadian Rockies, and to the newly constructed seaport at Prince Rupert, was held one mile east of Fort Fraser, British Columbia on April 7, 1914.^[10]

Real Estate Development

The funding for railway expansion depended upon returns from the sale of land acquired by the railway. The Grand Trunk Pacific Town & Development Co. was responsible for locating and promoting strategic town sites.^[21] However, the priority of maximising profit undermined the economic prosperity of communities and other businesses, hampering the increase in traffic volumes essential for the GTP’s own survival.^[22] In what would become Prince George, the company purchased the First Nations reserve for a railway yard and a new town site.^[23] The GTPR also caused the displacement and socio-economic destruction of native communities along the route, many of whom had social and economic values in conflict with those of the railway.^[24]

Initial Train Timetable

GTP Timetable: March 1, 1914

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GTPR Steamships

Beginning in 1910, a GTPR steamship service operated from Prince Rupert. The first ship, the SS Prince Albert (formerly the Bruno built in 1892 at Hull, England), was an 84-ton, steel-hulled vessel and travelled as far as Vancouver and Victoria. Next, the SS Prince John (formerly the Amethyst built in England in 1910), travelled to the Queen Charlotte Islands. Built in 1910, the much larger SS Prince George and SS Prince Rupert, both 3,380-ton, 18-knot vessels, could carry 1,500 passengers with staterooms for 220. These ships operated a weekly service from Seattle to Victoria, Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Anyox.^[25]

GTPR Oban, Sask. interlocking tower

Ancillary Facilities

The GTPR built the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, and the Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton. Construction of the Chateau Prince Rupert did not proceed beyond the foundations laid in 1910. Its forerunner, the temporary GTP Inn, was demolished in 1962.^[26]

When built in 1910, the Grand Trunk Pacific dock in Seattle was the largest on the west coast. On July 30, 1914, fire destroyed the facility. The company’s Prince Rupert dry-dock, completed in 1915, was dismantled during 1954/55.^[27][28]

Operations

Grand Trunk Pacific boxcars and gondola in Lovett, Alberta. About 1915.

The CNoR tracklaying through the Canadian Rockies in 1913 roughly paralleled the GTPR line of 1911, creating about 100 miles of duplication. In 1917, a contingent from the Corps of Canadian Railway Troops added several crossovers to amalgamate the tracks into a single line along the preferred grade as far west as Red Pass Junction (misidentifed as 36 miles west of Red Pass on Google Maps). The surplus rails were lifted and the heavier grade GTPR ones shipped to France for use during World War I. By this time, both railway companies were in dire financial straits.^[29][30]

In March 1919, after the GTPR defaulted on construction loans to the federal government, the federal Department of Railways and Canals took over all GTR operations until July 1920, when the CNR assumed control.