Sir William Van Horne Building Canadian Pacific Railroad
Kindle version of vintage magazine article originally published in 1900. Lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the last 110 years.
Read excerpt -
William Van Horne's earlier years after his operator's experience were spent in and about Chicago. He filled scores of positions, each better than the other until about 1879, when he was appointed general superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul. His big brain, his intense personality, his tremendous energy, and his ready grasp of every railway problem made him even then a conspicuous figure among railway men. It probably would have been better for the American roads if William Van Horne had remained on this side of the line. Certain it is that he could not but have added to the progress of any undertaking with which he might have been connected.
It was not to be, however. That same hand of fate which had lifted him from the farm to the telegraph office, and from the telegraph office through various stages to the superintendency of an important road, was about to carry him into another country, and to a work destined to form one of the most conspicuous chapters in the world's railway history.
While William Van Horne was overseeing the welfare of the St. Paul road, events of future importance to him were unfolding north of the boundary line between Canada and the United States.
It is a common remark up there to-day that Sir William Van Horne is the Canadian Pacific and the Canadian Pacific is Canada. Yet when the wonderful railway was first projected, Sir William had not been thought of in its connection.
A railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, all the way on British soil, had been the subject of discussion and planning for almost half a century. In 1867, on the confederation of the British North American Provinces, its realization was found to be a political necessity. With the newly formed union came a renewed envy, if it might be so termed, of the prosperity of its southern neighbor, the United States; and there was an almost unanimous belief that a trans-continental railroad was necessary to the well¬being and the growth of the country.
1113117386
Read excerpt -
William Van Horne's earlier years after his operator's experience were spent in and about Chicago. He filled scores of positions, each better than the other until about 1879, when he was appointed general superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul. His big brain, his intense personality, his tremendous energy, and his ready grasp of every railway problem made him even then a conspicuous figure among railway men. It probably would have been better for the American roads if William Van Horne had remained on this side of the line. Certain it is that he could not but have added to the progress of any undertaking with which he might have been connected.
It was not to be, however. That same hand of fate which had lifted him from the farm to the telegraph office, and from the telegraph office through various stages to the superintendency of an important road, was about to carry him into another country, and to a work destined to form one of the most conspicuous chapters in the world's railway history.
While William Van Horne was overseeing the welfare of the St. Paul road, events of future importance to him were unfolding north of the boundary line between Canada and the United States.
It is a common remark up there to-day that Sir William Van Horne is the Canadian Pacific and the Canadian Pacific is Canada. Yet when the wonderful railway was first projected, Sir William had not been thought of in its connection.
A railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, all the way on British soil, had been the subject of discussion and planning for almost half a century. In 1867, on the confederation of the British North American Provinces, its realization was found to be a political necessity. With the newly formed union came a renewed envy, if it might be so termed, of the prosperity of its southern neighbor, the United States; and there was an almost unanimous belief that a trans-continental railroad was necessary to the well¬being and the growth of the country.
Sir William Van Horne Building Canadian Pacific Railroad
Kindle version of vintage magazine article originally published in 1900. Lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the last 110 years.
Read excerpt -
William Van Horne's earlier years after his operator's experience were spent in and about Chicago. He filled scores of positions, each better than the other until about 1879, when he was appointed general superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul. His big brain, his intense personality, his tremendous energy, and his ready grasp of every railway problem made him even then a conspicuous figure among railway men. It probably would have been better for the American roads if William Van Horne had remained on this side of the line. Certain it is that he could not but have added to the progress of any undertaking with which he might have been connected.
It was not to be, however. That same hand of fate which had lifted him from the farm to the telegraph office, and from the telegraph office through various stages to the superintendency of an important road, was about to carry him into another country, and to a work destined to form one of the most conspicuous chapters in the world's railway history.
While William Van Horne was overseeing the welfare of the St. Paul road, events of future importance to him were unfolding north of the boundary line between Canada and the United States.
It is a common remark up there to-day that Sir William Van Horne is the Canadian Pacific and the Canadian Pacific is Canada. Yet when the wonderful railway was first projected, Sir William had not been thought of in its connection.
A railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, all the way on British soil, had been the subject of discussion and planning for almost half a century. In 1867, on the confederation of the British North American Provinces, its realization was found to be a political necessity. With the newly formed union came a renewed envy, if it might be so termed, of the prosperity of its southern neighbor, the United States; and there was an almost unanimous belief that a trans-continental railroad was necessary to the well¬being and the growth of the country.
Read excerpt -
William Van Horne's earlier years after his operator's experience were spent in and about Chicago. He filled scores of positions, each better than the other until about 1879, when he was appointed general superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul. His big brain, his intense personality, his tremendous energy, and his ready grasp of every railway problem made him even then a conspicuous figure among railway men. It probably would have been better for the American roads if William Van Horne had remained on this side of the line. Certain it is that he could not but have added to the progress of any undertaking with which he might have been connected.
It was not to be, however. That same hand of fate which had lifted him from the farm to the telegraph office, and from the telegraph office through various stages to the superintendency of an important road, was about to carry him into another country, and to a work destined to form one of the most conspicuous chapters in the world's railway history.
While William Van Horne was overseeing the welfare of the St. Paul road, events of future importance to him were unfolding north of the boundary line between Canada and the United States.
It is a common remark up there to-day that Sir William Van Horne is the Canadian Pacific and the Canadian Pacific is Canada. Yet when the wonderful railway was first projected, Sir William had not been thought of in its connection.
A railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, all the way on British soil, had been the subject of discussion and planning for almost half a century. In 1867, on the confederation of the British North American Provinces, its realization was found to be a political necessity. With the newly formed union came a renewed envy, if it might be so termed, of the prosperity of its southern neighbor, the United States; and there was an almost unanimous belief that a trans-continental railroad was necessary to the well¬being and the growth of the country.
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Sir William Van Horne Building Canadian Pacific Railroad
Sir William Van Horne Building Canadian Pacific Railroad
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940015543773 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | history-bytes |
| Publication date: | 10/02/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 368 KB |
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