The Golden Age of Canadian Railways

One of the most important developments in Canadian history, the railways helped create the country, uniting east and west and opening up the new nation's vast prairies and northern frontiers. In the "Golden Age" of the railways, from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth, there was no more exciting, exotic or desirable way to travel through Canada.

As the major railway companies quickly became huge industrial powers, they soon began to influence the nation's infrastructure of trade, industry, agriculture and settlement. Expanding international trade, bringing immigrants to Canada, allowing settlers to travel right across the country, and displacing aboriginal peoples, the railways helped bring about the modern face of Canada.

Crossing stunning landscapes and bringing natural wonders within reach of ordinary people, the Canadian railways also encouraged the growth of an embryonic tourism industry and spurred the development of poster art.

All these aspects of the early decades of Canada's classic railway routes are explored in this elegant, lavishly illustrated volume. The social, economic, environmental and technological challenges and achievements are all covered, together with highlights of the routes and the experiences of eager train passengers.

The Golden Age of Canadian Railways contains ore than a thousand contemporary illustrations as well as route maps, schedules, technical appendices, and the fascinating perspectives of a team of award-winning writers and acknowledged railway experts.