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Subjects:
Biographies, Canadian History, Transportation |
Grade Level: JrH-Adult
Producer: Good Earth Productions
Closed Captioned: No |
Running Time: 30 mins
Country of Origin: Canada
Study Guide: No |
Copyright Date:
Available in French: No
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In 1881 the search began for a CPR route through the Selkirk Mountains. Major A.B. Rogers would discover Rogers Pass - which he penetrated both east and west before CPR would believe that the Selkirks were breachable. Construction began in 1885 - hundreds of lives would be lost as the railway struggled with new technology that might make the pass, well, passable. The avalanches that plague the region were their ever-constant enemy. By 1916 over 200 railway workers had died at Rogers Pass; Van Horne had become weary with the costs involved in keeping it open. The pass would be closed and a new, equally daunting task would be undertaken. The Connaught tunnel would become the new route and it required nothing less then burrowing right through the mountain. |