On the Construction of the CPR During the Season of 1884

On the Construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (Rocky Mountain Division) During the Season of 1884

by Granville Carlyle Cuningham, M. Inst. C.E.

WHEN the work of constructing the western division of the Canadian Pacific Railway was suspended for the winter in December 1883, the rails had reached a point about 4 miles short of the summit of the Rocky Mountains. This point is 960 miles west of Winnipeg, and 120 miles west of Calgary, the last station on the plains, where the line enters the mountains by the Bow Pass. From here two possible routes are available for further progress westwards: one following the Bow Pass to its summit, and thence descending by the Howse Pass into the Columbia Valley; the other diverging from the Bow Pass, reaching the summit of the Rocky Mountains at the commencement of the Kicking Horse Pass, and following this, entering the Columbia Valley at a point about 12 miles to the south of the mouth of the Howse Pass. The first route presented comparatively easy grades and curvature, but crossed the summit at 1,000 feet greater altitude, thus bringing the line into much deeper snow in winter; and it was 30 miles longer than the second. The second route, though of a lower altitude and shorter distance, would entail very heavey work at the head of the Kicking Horse Pass, in order to maintain equally good gradients. After considering the problem, the Directorate decided to adopt the shorter route by the Kicking Horse Pass, and to use a steep gradient at its commencement, in order to temporarily avoid the heavy work that will be required on the permanent line, and thus to effect the connection with the railway on the Pacific coast by the autumn of 1885.

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Route

(Plate 5)

The route follows the valley of the Kicking Horse River, from its commencement near the summit of the Rocky Mountains, to its entrance into the valley of the Columbia River, a distance of about 45 miles. The Columbia Valley is from 6 to 8 miles wide, and is heavily timbered. It is the westerly limit of the Rocky Mountain range, which it divides from the Selkirk range. The general direction of the valley is north, for some 80 to 100 miles, when the river makes a bold sweep round the northern end of the Selkirks, at what is called "the Big Bend," and thence flows southwards, on the western side of the Selkirk range, to Oregon territory and the Pacific Ocean, The railway, entering the Columbia Valley at the point above mentioned, follows it northwards for a distance of about 30 miles, until the mouth of the Beaver River, flowing out of the Selkirks, is reached. Here the line turns west, ascends to the summit of the Selkirks by the Beaver Valley, and thence descends, by the valley and canon of the Illecilli-waet, to the second crossing of the Columbia River. From the second crossing it ascends the Fagle Pass, through the Gold range, and passes by the valley of the Shoo-swap Lakes to Kamloops, to which point the rails from the Pacific coast have been laid. The distances, measured front the sumnilt of the Rocky Mountains, and the altitudes above the sea, at various points along this route, are as follow:

	Distance	Altitude
	Miles	Feet
Summit of Rocky Mountains	..	5,296
Mouth of Kicking Horse Pass	44 1/4	2,539
First crossing Columbia River	62	2,521
Mouth of Beaver River	73 3/4	2,340
Summit of Selkirks	94 1/2	4,300
Second crossing Columbia River	139 1/2	1,600
Kamloops	270	..
Port Moodie (tide water)	501	..

Geological System

The geological system through which the line passes is the Lower Carboniferous. At the upper portion of the Kicking Horse Pass, hard crystalline limestone is found, in several instances of a quality so pure and homogeneous as to form marble of some commercial value. Lower down the pass, the shales of the system appear in every variety; sometimes dark hard slates, sometimes soft laminated clays.

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