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81-588: The completion of construction of Canada's first transcontinental railway , the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) on November 7, 1885, preceded a tremendous economic expansion and immigration boom in western Canada during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but the monopolistic policies of the CPR, coupled with its southerly routing (new scientific discoveries were pushing the northern boundary of cereal crops), led to increasing western discontent with

162-624: A bridge over the St. Lawrence River at Quebec was considered as early as 1852. It was further discussed in 1867, 1882, and 1884. After a period of political instability during which Canada had four prime ministers in five years, Wilfrid Laurier , the Member of Parliament for the federal riding of Quebec East , was elected on a Liberal platform in 1896 and led the push to build the Quebec Bridge until he left office in 1911. A March 1897 article in

243-713: A bulwark against potential incursions by the United States. Subsequently, two other transcontinental lines were built in Canada: the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) opened another line to the Pacific in 1915, and the combined Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR)/ National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) system opened in 1917 following the completion of the Quebec Bridge , although its line to

324-664: A complete transcontinental link exists from Arica, Chile , to La Paz , Bolivia, to Buenos Aires, but this trans-Andean crossing is for freight only. On December 6, 2017 the Brazilian President Michel Temer and his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales signed an agreement for an Atlantic - Pacific railway. The construction will start in 2019 and will be finished in 2024. The new railway is planned to be 3750 km in length. There are two possible tracks in discussion: Both have an Atlantic end in Santos , Brazil but

405-491: A connection between Puerto San José and Puerto Barrios in Guatemala, but ceased passenger service to Puerto San José in 1989. A third Central American inter-oceanic railroad began operation in 1910 as a connection between Puntarenas and Limón in 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) gauge. It currently (2019) sees no passenger service. Quebec Bridge The Quebec Bridge ( French : pont de Québec )

486-535: A few years during World War I. The GTP had built through the Yellowhead Pass on a route paralleled later by Canadian Northern, but near Mount Robson , GTP headed toward Prince Rupert. Prince Rupert was one of several possible Pacific termini for the line. Originally, Port Simpson on the Alaska border was selected, but a border dispute with the United States in the early 20th century left Canada concerned about

567-578: A goodly traffic between the two towns, and be one of the show works of the continent. The Quebec Bridge was included in the National Transcontinental Railway project, undertaken by the federal government. The Quebec Bridge Company was first incorporated by Act of Parliament under the government of Sir John A. Macdonald in 1887, later revived in 1891, and revived for good in 1897 by the government of Wilfrid Laurier , who granted them an extension of time in 1900. In 1903,

648-539: A number of Pacific Coast destinations (including Victoria on Vancouver Island). When Grand Trunk balked at building a railway using the survey, the government turned to the privately owned Canadian Pacific. The CPR, one of whose directors was James J. Hill , a Canadian who had settled in Minnesota (and eventual builder of the transcontinental Great Northern Railway located just south of the US/Canada border), favoured

729-550: A peaceful Confucian model of protest. The strike began with the Summer Solstice in June, 1867 and lasted for eight days. The Transcontinental Railroad required land and a complex federal policy for purchasing, granting, conveying land. Some of these land-related acts included: George J. Gould attempted to assemble a truly transcontinental system in the 1900s. The line from San Francisco, California , to Toledo, Ohio ,

810-598: A route farther south, as Hill hoped to tap into freight flows from the northern US states. That left Canada with a single transcontinental route close to the US border, since CPR chose to use Rogers and Kicking Horse Passes rather than the surveyed route over the Yellowhead . By the early 1900s, the GTR was willing to consider building a second transcontinental system for the country if it received government assistance, similar to

891-522: A subsidiary, and the government-owned and -built National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) would run from Winnipeg to Moncton and be operated by GTR upon completion. The GTPR/NTR deal came in the heady final days of Canada's railway boom and would soon prove to be the financial straw that broke the back of Canada's railway industry during the First World War . Canada has supported two transcontinental railway systems for many years, but even in 1914 it

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972-582: A time, it aided the resource-rich mining communities of northern Ontario and northwestern Quebec. Under CNR (CN post-1960), the NTR route across northern Quebec and Ontario became a marginal secondary main line, with little in the way of through freight or passenger traffic. At Nakina , the CNR had constructed the Longlac-Nakina Cut-Off , a 29.4-mile (47.3 km) section of track linking the NTR with

1053-502: A transcontinental railroad in the United States was presented to Congress by Asa Whitney in 1845. A series of transcontinental railroads built over the last third of the 19th century created a nationwide transportation network that united the country by rail. The first of these, the 3,103 km (1,928 mi) "Pacific Railroad" , was built by the Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad , as well as

1134-406: Is a riveted steel truss structure and is 987 m (3,238 ft) long, 29 m (95 ft) wide, and 104 m (341 ft) high. Cantilever arms 177 m (581 ft) long support a 195 m (640 ft) central structure, for a total span of 549 m (1,801 ft), still the longest cantilever bridge span in the world. (It was the all-categories longest span in the world until

1215-530: Is a road, rail, and pedestrian bridge across the lower Saint Lawrence River between Sainte-Foy (a former suburb that in 2002 became the arrondissement Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge in Quebec City ) and Lévis , in Quebec, Canada . The project failed twice during its construction, in 1907 and 1916, at the cost of 88 lives and additional people injured. The bridge eventually opened in 1919. The Quebec Bridge

1296-470: Is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies along a continuous route. Although Europe is crisscrossed by railways, the railroads within Europe are usually not considered transcontinental, with

1377-569: Is now proposing to invest $ 75 million to paint the bridge and is asking the Quebec provincial government to step in and invest an estimated additional $ 275 million to complete the work. The mayor of Quebec City, Regis Labeaume , accused the federal government of breaching a promise made during the 2015 electoral campaign to act upon the maintenance of the bridge On May 10, 2024, the Canadian Government and CN announced an agreement for

1458-579: The Ambassador Bridge was completed in 1929.) It is the easternmost (farthest downstream) complete crossing of the Saint Lawrence River. The bridge accommodates three highway lanes (there were none until 1929, when one was added; another was added in 1949 and a third in 1993), one rail line (two until 1949), and a pedestrian walkway (originally two). At one time, it also carried a streetcar line. Since 1993, it has been owned by

1539-718: The California Gold Rush . Over the years the railway played a key role in the construction and the subsequent operation of the Panama Canal , due to its proximity to the canal. Currently, the railway operates under the private administration of the Panama Canal Railroad Company, and its upgraded capacity complements the cargo traffic through the Panama Canal. A second Central American inter-oceanic railroad began operation in 1908 as

1620-624: The Canadian National Railway . On May 15 2024, the Quebec Bridge was purchased by the Federal Government for a symbolic $ 1. The Quebec Bridge was designated a National Historic Site in 1995. Before the Quebec Bridge was built, the only way to travel from the south shore of the St. Lawrence in Lévis to the north shore at Quebec City was to take a ferry or to use the wintertime ice bridge . The construction of

1701-866: The Cap-Rouge trestle and the Little Salmon River Trestle (the second largest railway bridge in Canada) to span wide valleys. The Quebec Bridge over the St. Lawrence River , the largest cantilever span in the world, took $ 40 million of the $ 170 million total project cost alone. The territory across northern Quebec and Ontario to Winnipeg, through the heart of the Canadian Shield , posed an extremely difficult construction obstacle. It also generated very little traffic. The Grand Trunk Pacific/National Transcontinental route remained intact for only

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1782-625: The Isthmus of Panama , when that area was still part of Colombia . (Panama split off from Colombia in 1903 and became the independent Republic of Panama ). By spanning the isthmus, the line thus became the first railroad to completely cross any part of the Americas and physically connect ports on the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . Given the tropical rain forest environment, the terrain, and diseases such as malaria and cholera , its completion

1863-791: The Panic of 1907 strangled the plans before the Little Kanawha section in West Virginia could be finished. The Alphabet Route was completed in 1931, providing the portion of this line east of the Mississippi River . With the merging of the railroads, only the Union Pacific Railroad and the BNSF Railway remain to carry the entire route. The completion of Canada's first transcontinental railway with

1944-503: The Quebec Morning Chronicle noted: The bridge question has again been revived after many years of slumber, and business men in Quebec seem hopeful that something will come of it, though the placing of a subsidy on the statute book is but a small part of the work to be accomplished, as some of its enthusiastic promoters will, ere long, discover. Both Federal and Provincial Governments seem disposed to contribute towards

2025-551: The St. Lawrence River and continue on to its eastern terminus at Moncton, New Brunswick , by way of a route directly across central New Brunswick . The GTR board of directors wished to assume the financial risks only for the portion of the system west of Winnipeg and so the agreement resulted in two railway systems being funded by government: the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway , which would run from Winnipeg to Prince Rupert and be built and operated by GTR as

2106-542: The Trans-Siberian Railway even have passenger trains going from one end to the other. A transcontinental railroad in the United States is any continuous rail line connecting a location on the U.S. Pacific coast with one or more of the railroads of the nation's eastern trunk line rail systems operating between the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers and the U.S. Atlantic coast. The first concrete plan for

2187-623: The Western Pacific Railroad (1862-1870) , to link the San Francisco Bay at Alameda, California , with the nation's existing eastern railroad network at Omaha, Nebraska / Council Bluffs, Iowa — thereby creating the world's second transcontinental railroad when it was completed from Omaha to Alameda on September 6, 1869. (The first transcontinental railroad was the Panama Railroad of 1855.) Its construction

2268-529: The 1903 request of Schreiber, supra). The Commissioners attributed responsibility for the failure to two men, consulting engineer Theodore Cooper and Peter L. Szlapka , Chief Designing Engineer for Phoenix Bridge Company: (c) The design of the chords that failed was made by Mr. P.L. Szlapka, the designing engineer of the Phoenix Bridge Company (d) This design was examined and officially approved by Mr. Theodore Cooper, consulting engineer of

2349-478: The 86 workers on the bridge that day, 75 were killed and the rest were injured, making it the world's worst bridge construction disaster. Of these victims, 33 (some sources say 35) were Mohawk steelworkers from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal; they were buried at Kahnawake under crosses made of steel beams. On August 30, 1907, a Royal Commission of inquiry into the disaster was provisionally appointed by

2430-532: The CNoR in 1903 and in doing so, the federal government under Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier committed to building a transcontinental system in partnership with the GTR. In keeping with the trend of railways to exploit virgin territories, the government-backed "transcon" would run from the port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia , across the northern portion of the prairies to Winnipeg, and from there across northern Ontario and Quebec to Quebec City where it would cross

2511-515: The CPR's deal. However, while the government and GTR were considering whether to proceed and negotiating terms, the Canadian Northern Railway was already building a second transcontinental rail line. The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was an upstart regional system for the prairies that had begun in Manitoba under entrepreneurs William Mackenzie and Donald Mann in 1899 through their amalgamation of several smaller branch lines. The CNoR started

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2592-588: The Canadian Northern line at Longlac , which was completed in 1924. A 122-mile (196 km) section of the NTR mainline between Nakina and Calstock, Ontario , was abandoned in 1986, and the Ontario Northland Railway purchased the section of NTR mainline between Calstock and Cochrane, Ontario , in 1993. The mainline was also abandoned by CN for 82 miles (132 km) east of Cochrane to La Sarre, Quebec , in 1997. West of Nakina,

2673-626: The City of Quebec, City of Lévis, Province of Quebec, and Government of Canada joined in pledging half the estimated $ 200 million cost of repainting and restoring the Quebec Bridge. To date, CN Rail has not agreed to match this amount. CN Rail has deemed the proposed sanding and restorative paint work to be "aesthetic" and therefore unnecessary, a categorization supported by a ruling of the Superior Court of Quebec. The corrosion, accelerated by exposure to extremes of weather, will ultimately result in

2754-648: The Deputy Minister in charge of the Department of Railways and Canals (Butler), with the concurrence of the Minister. The Royal Commission, which was granted by Edward VII by advice of his Governor General, Albert Grey , on August 31, 1907, consisted of three members, who were all engineers of good standing: Henry Holgate, of Montreal, JGG Kerry, of Campbellford, Ontario , also an instructor at McGill University , and Professor John Galbraith, then dean of

2835-566: The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto . The Commission document conferred upon the commissioners full powers to summon witnesses and documents, and to express "any opinion they may see to express thereon". The Commissioners presented their Report in full on February 20, 1908, issued 15 conclusions, and included the hindsight work of consulting bridge engineer C.C. Schneider, of Philadelphia (a fulfillment of

2916-507: The GTPR was nationalized and entered the CNR fold. The GTR itself was placed under government control several weeks earlier on May 21, 1920; however, GTR was not merged into the CNR until January 23, 1923. The significant cost overruns in construction of the NTR/GTPR contributed to the downfall of Laurier's Liberal Party in 1911, but Robert Borden 's Conservative Party was forced to finish

2997-459: The GTPR's development of Prince Rupert an attractive alternative. Canadian National Railways, now a private corporation, as of 2012 had completed port facilities at Prince Rupert capable of handling two million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) per year and was lengthening passing sidings on the line from Jasper to Prince Rupert. CN now offers daily container train service between Prince Rupert, Chicago , and Memphis . East of La Sarre to Quebec City,

3078-642: The Pacific ends are in Ilo and Matarani in Peru. Another longer Transcontinental freight-only railroad linking Lima , Peru, to Rio de Janeiro , Brazil is under development. The first railroad to directly connect two oceans (although not by crossing a broad "continental" land mass ) was the Panama Canal Railway . Opened in 1855, this 77 km (48 mi) line was designated instead as an "inter-oceanic" railroad crossing Country at its narrowest point,

3159-807: The Pacific opened in 1914. The CNoR, GTPR, and NTR were nationalized to form the Canadian National Railway , which currently is now Canada's largest transcontinental railway, with lines running all the way from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast. There is activity to revive the connection between Valparaíso and Santiago in Chile and Mendoza , Argentina, through the Transandino project. Mendoza has an active connection to Buenos Aires . The old Transandino began in 1910 and ceased passenger service in 1978 and freight 4 years later. Technically

3240-549: The Phoenix Bridge Company: "Add no more load to bridge till after due consideration of facts." The two engineers went to the Phoenix offices. But, Cooper's message was not passed on to Quebec before it was too late. Near quitting time on the afternoon of August 29, after four years of construction, the south arm and part of the central section of the bridge collapsed into the St. Lawrence River in 15 seconds. Of

3321-685: The Quebec Bridge also came under complete ownership of CN. CN was privatized in November 1995, making the bridge privately owned. Despite its private ownership, CN received federal and provincial funding to undertake repairs and maintenance on the structure. Its railway designation is mile 0.2 subdivision Bridge. The disaster showed the power an engineer could have in a project that was improperly supervised. As one result, Galbraith and others formed around 1925 what are now recognized as organizations of Professional Engineers (P.Engs). Professional Engineers are under different rules and regulations based on

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3402-427: The Quebec Bridge and Railway Company. (e) The failure cannot be attributed directly to any cause other than errors in judgment on the part of these two engineers. Cooper escaped penal sanction. It is presumed that Szlapka escaped as well. The Commissioners also found that: (k) The failure on the part of the Quebec Bridge and Railway Company to appoint an experienced bridge engineer to the position of chief engineer

3483-595: The bond issue was increased to $ 6,000,000 and power to grant preference shares was authorised, along with a name change to the Quebec Bridge and Railway Company (QBRC). An Act of Parliament the same year was necessary to guarantee the bonds by the public purse. Laurier was the MP for Quebec East riding, while the president of the QBRC, Simon-Napoleon Parent , was Quebec City's mayor from 1894 to 1906 and simultaneously served as Premier of Quebec from 1900 to 1905. Edward A. Hoare

3564-597: The bridge. Armed soldiers, and later Dominion Police , guarded the structure and checked passes until the end of the War. Construction was ultimately completed in September 1917 at a total cost of $ 23 million and the lives of 88 bridgeworkers. On the 17 October, the first train crossed the bridge from Quebec to Lévis and on December 3, 1917, the Quebec Bridge officially opened for rail traffic, after almost two decades of construction. Its centre span of 549 m (1800 ft) remains

3645-483: The calculations that were submitted by the contractors. Schreiber subsequently requested the support of another qualified bridge engineer, but was effectively overruled by the Cabinet on August 15, 1903. Thereafter, QBRC consulting engineer Theodore Cooper was completely in charge of the works. On July 1, 1905, Schreiber was demoted and replaced as deputy minister and chief engineer by Matthew J Butler . By 1904,

3726-511: The collapsed bridge, which could not be reused for construction, was used to forge the early Iron Rings that started to be worn by graduates of Canadian engineering schools in 1925. After a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the collapse, construction started on a second bridge. Three engineers were appointed: H. E. Vautelet, a former engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railways, Maurice FitzMaurice from Britain, who worked on

3807-463: The combined NTR/GTPR line forms CN's transcontinental mainline through to Tête Jaune Cache, British Columbia , and sees very heavy traffic. From Tête Jaune Cache (Yellowhead Pass), the GTPR line to Prince Rupert is a secondary mainline, as the CNoR line southwest from Tête Jaune Cache to Vancouver forms the CN mainline. In the 1990s and 2000s, congestion at many ports along the west coast of North America made

3888-465: The construction of the Forth Bridge , and Ralph Modjeski from Chicago , Illinois . Vautelet was President and Chief Engineer. The new design was again for a bridge with a single long cantilever span but with a more massive structure. On September 11, 1916, when the central span was being raised into position, it fell into the river, killing 13 workers. The chief engineer had been made aware of

3969-790: The cost, and the City of Quebec will also be expected to do its share. Many of our people have objected to any contribution being given by the city unless the bridge is built opposite the town, and the CHRONICLE like every other good citizen of Quebec would prefer to see it constructed at Diamond Harbor, and has contended in the interests of the city for this site as long as there seemed to be any possibility of securing it there. It would still do so if it appeared that our people could have it at that site. A bridge at Diamond Harbor would, it estimated, cost at least eight millions. It would be very nice to have, with its double track, electric car track, and roads for vehicles and pedestrians, and would no doubt create

4050-565: The defensibility of any Pacific rail terminal, and the terminal for GTP was moved south to Prince Rupert. That selection potentially saved a day of steaming for ships to or from Asia. Much GTP track through the Yellowhead Pass did not last even to the end of World War I. As a government-imposed war measure to garner rails for potential use in France, trackage was consolidated between Lobstick, Alberta , and Red Pass Junction, British Columbia with Canadian Northern in 1917, and rails were lifted from

4131-605: The driving of the Last Spike at Craigellachie, British Columbia , on November 7, 1885, was an important milestone in Canadian history . Between 1881 and 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) completed a line that spanned from the port of Montreal to the Pacific coast, fulfilling a condition of British Columbia 's 1871 entry into the Canadian Confederation . The City of Vancouver , incorporated in 1886,

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4212-422: The failure of a casting in the erection equipment. Re-construction began almost immediately after the accident, and the government granted special permission for the bridge builders to acquire the needed steel. It was in high demand because of the War effort. The fallen central span still lies at the bottom of the river. After the bridge was completed in 1917, special passes were required for those wanting to cross

4293-411: The former NTR mainline supports a network of CN branchlines in northern Quebec, but the Quebec Bridge and related trackage in the Quebec City area is heavily used by freight and passenger traffic as part of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor . From Quebec City east to Pelletier, Quebec , the former NTR mainline was abandoned in the 1980s after the completion in 1976 of a 30-mile (48 km) "cutoff" from

4374-459: The individual systems maintained their independent names. The CGR and its subsidiaries would last until 1918. On September 6, 1918, the CNoR was nationalized after becoming insolvent and its government-appointed directors were ordered to assume operation of the CGR system. On December 20, 1918, the federal government created the Canadian National Railways (CNR) under which the CNoR and CGR were to be operated. Several years later, on July 12, 1920,

4455-451: The latter station to CN's former Intercolonial Railway mainline in the St. Lawrence River valley west of Rivière-du-Loup . However, from Pelletier east to Moncton, the NTR mainline across central New Brunswick, including the massive bridges in the Appalachian Mountains, is still heavily used since it forms the core of CN's Montreal- Halifax mainline. Transcontinental railway A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway

4536-401: The longest cantilevered bridge span in the world and is considered a major engineering feat. The Quebec Bridge was declared an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1987 by the Canadian and American Society of Civil Engineers. The bridge was built and designed primarily as a railway bridge, but the streetcar lines (used by Quebec Railway, Light & Power Company ) and one of

4617-429: The loss of the bridge's mechanical properties—and potentially, its structural integrity as well. In May 2016, Jean-Yves Duclos , the Canadian federal cabinet minister in charge of the Quebec region, revealed that a lease agreement between the CN and the federal government indicated that the CN would not be required to pay more than $ 10 million towards the paint work until the lease expires in 2053. The Canadian government

4698-422: The more sparsely settled West. It recruited Cantonese laborers in China, who built the line over and through the Sierra Nevada mountains and then across Nevada to their meeting in northern Utah . Chinese workers made up ninety percent of the workforce on the line. The Chinese Labor Strike of 1867 was peaceful, with no violence, organized across the entire Sierra Nevada route, and was carried out according to

4779-417: The nearly brand-new GTP. The GTR reneged on its deal with the federal government for operating the eastern section (the NTR) and the government folded it, along with the Intercolonial Railway of Canada (IRC), the Prince Edward Island Railway (PEIR), and the Hudson Bay Railway (as well as some smaller lines) into the Canadian Government Railways in 1915 for administrative and financial purposes, although

4860-463: The organization to which they belong. General guidelines include that an engineer must pass an ethical examination, be able to show good character through the use of character witnesses , and have applicable engineering experience (in Canada that constitutes a minimum of four years' practice under a certified Professional Engineer). Moreover, engineers must be registered in the province in which they work. These engineering organizations are regulated by

4941-426: The possible exception of the historic Orient Express . Transcontinental railroads helped open up interior regions of continents not previously colonized to exploration and settlement that would not otherwise have been feasible. In many cases they also formed the backbones of cross-country passenger and freight transportation networks. Many of them continue to have an important role in freight transportation and some like

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5022-426: The problem six weeks before the collapse. The chief engineer had been alerted to a problem by Frants Lichtenberg, the engineer responsible for the construction of the centre section. Lichtenberg was also working as an inspector for the federal government of Canada at the time. Fears of German sabotage were reported because the Great War had begun, but it became apparent that the central span had collapsed because of

5103-424: The problems were minor. The Phoenix Bridge Company officials claimed that the beams must already have been bent before they were installed, but by August 27 it had become clear to McLure that this was wrong. A more experienced engineer might have telegraphed Cooper, but McLure wrote him a letter, and went to New York to meet with him two days later. Cooper agreed that the issue was serious, and promptly telegraphed to

5184-437: The process of building Canada's second transcontinental system between 1903 and 1912. The system was built from Winnipeg westbound to Vancouver and eastbound to Toronto and Montreal . In addition to an extensive network of branch lines in the prairie provinces, CNoR had many branch lines in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime Provinces. But Mackenzie and Mann had spurned the federal government's offer for assistance to expand

5265-443: The project, including the disastrous spanning of the St. Lawrence River with the Quebec Bridge. The NTR route across northern Quebec and Ontario, far from the major population centres, had been approved by Laurier's government largely because of the support of his Quebec caucus to make Quebec City the preferred port for western grain shipments. The NTR in those provinces never lived up to its expectations for creating traffic, but for

5346-409: The railroad land grant lands and the transport provided for timber and crops led to the rapid settling of the "Great American Desert". The Union Pacific recruited laborers from Army veterans and Irish immigrants, while most of the engineers were ex-Army men who had learned their trade keeping the trains running during the American Civil War . The Central Pacific Railroad faced a labor shortage in

5427-416: The railway and federal transportation policies. The federal government had encouraged the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) system in the 1870s to consider building the transcontinental rail line. During the same time, a government survey party under the direction of Sandford Fleming set out across Canada to survey routes for the proposed railway. The "Canadian Pacific Survey", as it was called, surveyed routes to

5508-400: The respective provinces and the title "Professional Engineer" (or "Ingénieur" in Quebec) is reserved only to members who belong to this organization. On August 29, 2006, a year-long commemoration was begun in the Kahnawake Reserve for the lives of the 33 Mohawk men who died in 1907. One year later, on August 29, 2007, memorial services were held to dedicate a concrete structure displaying

5589-448: The settlement and economy of the American West . It brought the western states and territories into alignment with the northern Union states and made transporting passengers and goods coast-to-coast considerably quicker, safer and less expensive. It replaced most of the far slower and more hazardous stagecoach lines and wagon trains . The number of emigrants taking the Oregon and California Trails declined dramatically. The sale of

5670-627: The southern half of the structure was taking shape. However, preliminary calculations made early in the planning stages were never properly checked when the design was completed. The bridge’s own weight was far in excess of its carrying capacity. The dead load was too heavy. All went well until the bridge was nearing completion in the summer of 1907, when the QBRC site engineering team under Norman McLure began noticing increasing distortions of key structural members already in place. McLure became increasingly concerned and wrote repeatedly to QBRC consulting engineer Theodore Cooper , who at first replied that

5751-472: The two railway tracks were converted into automobile and pedestrian/cycling lanes in subsequent years. In 1970, the Pierre Laporte Suspension Bridge opened just upstream to accommodate freeway traffic on Autoroute 73 . On November 24, 1995. the bridge was declared a National Historic Site . The bridge has been featured on two commemorative postage stamps, one issued by the Post Office Department in 1929, and another by Canada Post in 1995. The bridge

5832-762: The victims' names on the Lévis side of the bridge, and to unveil a steel replica of the bridge in Kahnawake. In 2015, the Quebec Bridge was included in a list of the 10 most endangered historic sites in Canada by the National Trust of Canada because of long-overdue paint and repair work. It is estimated that 60% of the bridge is covered in corrosive rust. Since its transfer to CN Rail by the federal government in 1993, maintenance and restoration programs for this historic infrastructure have been cut back. In November 2014,

5913-450: Was a considerable engineering challenge. The construction took five years after ground was first broken for the line in May, 1850, cost eight million dollars, and required more than seven thousand workers drawn from "every quarter of the globe." This railway was built to provide a shorter and more secure path between the United States' East and West Coasts. This need was mainly triggered by

5994-413: Was a mistake. This resulted in a loose and inefficient supervision of all parts of the work on the part of the Quebec Bridge and Railway Company. The abortive construction of the Quebec Bridge spanned the careers of two Ministers of Railways and Canals , and one temporary replacement, who was on the job for five months immediately preceding the disaster. A popular myth is that the iron and the steel from

6075-661: Was built as part of the National Transcontinental Railway, which was merged into the Canadian Government Railways and later became part of the Canadian National Railway (CN). The Canadian Government Railways company was maintained by the federal government until 1993, when a Privy Council order dated July 22 authorized the sale of Canadian Government Railways to the Crown corporation CN for one Canadian dollar . On that date,

6156-565: Was completed in 1909, consisting of the Western Pacific Railway , Denver and Rio Grande Railroad , Missouri Pacific Railroad , and Wabash Railroad . Beyond Toledo, the planned route would have used the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad (1900) , Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway , Little Kanawha Railroad , West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh Railway , Western Maryland Railroad , and Philadelphia and Western Railway , but

6237-629: Was considered to be one of the greatest American technological feats of the 19th century. Known as the "Pacific Railroad" when it opened, it served as a vital link for trade, commerce, and travel and opened up vast regions of the North American heartland for settlement. Much of the original route, especially on the Sierra grade west of Reno, Nevada, is currently used by Amtrak's California Zephyr , although many parts have been rerouted. The resulting coast-to-coast railroad connection revolutionized

6318-597: Was designated the western terminus of the line. The CPR became the first transcontinental railway company in North America in 1889 after its International Railway of Maine opened, connecting CPR to the Atlantic coast. The construction of a transcontinental railway strengthened the connection of British Columbia and the North-West Territories to the country they had recently joined, and acted as

6399-485: Was made possible by the US government under Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862, 1864, and 1867 . Its original course was very close to current Interstate 80 . The United States' first transcontinental railroad was built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa , with the Pacific coast at the Oakland Long Wharf on San Francisco Bay . Its construction

6480-503: Was not clear that there was enough traffic for three. The GTPR/NTR system was surveyed and construction began in 1905 and the entire system was finished (except for the Quebec Bridge ) in 1913. The task was monumental and no expense was spared in building a railway system of minimal grades and curvature. In crossing the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Quebec and northern New Brunswick, the NTR used massive bridges, such as

6561-582: Was selected as Chief Engineer for the Company throughout this time, while Collingwood Schreiber was the Chief Engineer of the Department of Railways and Canals in Ottawa. Hoare had never worked on a cantilever bridge structure longer than 300 feet (91 m). Schreiber was assisted until July 9, 1903 by Department bridge engineer R.C. Douglas, at which time Douglas was deposed for his opposition to

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