Carving the Western Path by River, Rail and Road Through British Columbia's Southern Mountains - Softcover

R.G. Harvey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1895811627 ISBN 13: 9781895811629

Publisher: Heritage House Publishing, 2010

Synopsis

R.G. Harvey has applied a keen mind and deft pen to uncover skulduggery in politics and critical routing errors by the early surveyors and engineers who " carved their western paths". In turn he has exposed new scars and wrinkles to add to historic portraits otherwise untainted. " Many of Canada's rail tycoons and their engineers come close to slipping off the pedestals where Canadian historians have placed them," he says. Did both federal and provincial politicians wittingly sabotage road construction programs to the benefit of the rail barons? Were Cornelius Van Horne, Major A.B. Rogers and Andrew McCulloch fully deserving of the accolades bestowed on them? The author justifies Western Canada's ongoing distrust of federal transportation tax policies. A century of deal making and government misdeeds form the backdrop of this entertaining account of sternwheelers, iron horses, and mountain roads. Battling factions of rail builders cross many a line in the sand as they carve up both the land and the spoils of industry. Discover why Kicking Horse Pass never should have been used for construction of the CPR and why the Kettle Valley Railway was a strategic mistake. Decide for yourself if railwayman J.J. Hill was a genius or an opportunist. and meet real heroes who turned pathways into highways in spite of the obstacles both political and natural.

About this title

About the Author

R.G. (Bob) Harvey was born in Scotland in 1922, and graduated from the University of Glasgow with a B.Sc. in civil engineering in 1943. Bob immediately joined the British army and served in the UK, India and Burma before being placed on reserve as a captain (EME) in 1947. He immigrated to Canada in 1948 and joined the BC Department of Public Works that same year, right in the middle of the worst spring flooding in 54 years. In 1950 Bob married Eva Huscroft. He worked in Nelson and Prince George before becoming Deputy Minister of Highways and Public Works in 1976, retiring in 1983. Bob has written five books on the transportation history of British Columbia.

Edition details

• Publisher: Heritage House Publishing
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1895811627
• ISBN 13: 9781895811629
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240