Historic Transcontinental Passenger Train

 

CPR Engine 374 photo: Wikipedia 

First transcontinental passenger train 

arrives Port Moody - July 4 1886

According to Wikipedia:

The first transcontinental passenger train departed from Montreal's Dalhousie Station, located at Berri Street al nd Notre Dame Street at 8 pm on 28 June 1886, and arrived at Port Moody at noon on 4 July 1886. This train consisted of two baggage cars, a mail car, one second-class coach, two immigrant sleepers, two first-class coaches, two sleeping cars and a diner (several dining cars were used throughout the journey, as they were removed from the train during the night, and another one was picked in the morning)

---

Living on Vancouver Island and especially in Nanaimo it is not hard to imagine that the railroad is a thing of the past. A recent road trip through BC, Alberta and Sask. was a real eye opener when we  witnessed mile after mile of rail cars moving across the vast expanse of Western Canada.

That combined with the large number of 18 wheelers moving freight on the Trans Canada puts the lie to the notion that we can just kick oil to the curb, jump into our electric cars or bicycles and move forward into the great green world of the future.

The 'Church of the opposed to everything' crowd seem of the opinion that if we can just hinder 
Canada's ability to export our oil, we will somehow speed up the transition to electric people movers and off of fossil fuels. All that philosophy does is insure other oil producing nations will increase their wealth while we slide closer and closer to the status of a third world economy.