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Photo Book Covers First 100
Years
by Dennis Lanthier
The Rogers Pass in British Columbia has been the focal point of much interest
recently due to CP Rail's massive grade reduction and tunnel project.
The history of the area is now available in Jan Booth's new book "Canadian
Pacific in the Selkirks: 100 Years in Rogers Pass"
Booth, A Calgarian, said she became interested in writing the book after working
closely with Floyd Yeats on his recent work about the "Big Hill" at Field.
Both of them are published by the Calgary group of the British Railway Modellers of
North America.
Century
Like Yeat's work, large photographs and colourful stories help to give a
fascinating glimpse into railway operations over the past century in the mountain
area.
Booth, originally from England, has always been interested in trains.
"In fact, the first toy I had was a clockwind train", she laughs.
"Later on, I became interested in model railroads and got my husband interested
in it".
She spent many weekends "chasing trains", when helping Yeats out with his
book, and thought a Rogers Pass sequel would be a natural. This
15-month project included a full week spent at the Pass. "It's a
fabulous, historical area", she said.
Dedication
She has tried to satisfy all railway buffs by dividing the photos in the
50-page book between steam and diesel-powered locomotives.
There are also some photos without trains, in order to illustrate the ongoing
Rogers Pass construction project.
Booth has dedicated the book "to the men of Rogers Pass - Major Rogers who
discovered it in 1881 and the builders and operators of the railway, past and
present, whose work often goes unrecognized".
It is available for $10. ( $9. for CP Rail pensioners ) from the Calgary group of
the B.R.M.N.A. 5124 - 33rd St. N.W. Calgary AB T2L 1V4.
Canadian Pacific Public
Relations & Advertising PO Box 6042 Sta. A Montreal PQ H3C 3E4
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