Fall 2008 Celebrating the CPR with Music By Tim Rogers *       Crinolines swish and patent leather shoes glide across the dance floor to the strains of an elegant schottische. Step, step, step, hop, couples flow effortlessly around the room. The year is 1887. The place:  London, Ontario. The dance tune:  "Canadian Pacific Railway", recently composed by D.S. Mills to praise the just-completed railway in its quest to bind our country together.   This was one of the first musical celebrations of the CPR. Since then, Canadian Pacific has been the inspiration for a tremendous amount of music. From early dance tunes, through robust songs sung by laborers, ballads about accomplishments and events, to serious classical music, the CPR has been the focus of much music. By exploring these songs and tunes we see the impact the company has had on Canadian culture. Not only does the CPR bind us together with a long steel rail, it also defines, in many ways, the shape of our expressive world.   Here, we examine how the CPR has been portrayed by composers and song-writers. What we find is an amazing diversity of music that paints a rich and intriguing portrait.   There were tinkers and tailors, shoemakers and snobs There were heavers and weavers all looking for jobs There was a lager-beer man who did hail from the Rhine They were all heading west for the CPR line.   So sang workers as they headed west in the 1880s. This verse is from "The CPR Line", a song about their time building the line. It ends with the no-nonsense attitude of the boss:  "And if you don't like it you can all take your time, and skedaddle to hell from the CPR line". Forgotten workers are remembered too.   Well it's hammer, drill and blast, and still the rock she don't give any So it's drill once more, and careful, or you'll die For the gorge is deep, but men are cheap, and China men are many When they're all used up there's plenty more to buy   This is from "Demon Fire-Carriage Road", ana amazing song written by Su-Chong Lim, that paints a vivid portrait of the hard times suffered by the Chinese laborers imported by the federal government to help push the CPR through the Rockies, before a private syndicate (founders of today's CPR) took over the work.   Numerous other songs have put the history of the CPR to music. Gordon Lightfoot's "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" is, perhaps, the best known, but there are many more. Among these, Louis Applebaum's fine soundtrack for the TV miniseries "The National Dream". Icons from CPR history, Van Horne, Fleming, Moberley, Rogers, Crowfoot, and Stephen, among many more, are celebrated in song. Song-writers have been particularly taken with Lady Agnes Macdonald's infamous 1886 ride through the Rockies on a cowcatcher, inspiring three songs. Bill Miner, the first to rob a CPR train, has earned twelve different songs, as well as two musical productions, and a movie.   Great engineering accomplishments (e.g., Rogers Pass, Eagle Pass, the Spiral Tunnels) and famous locomotives (e.g., the Royal Hudsons and Selkirks) have found their place in song. So too have trainmen (e.g., Homer Johnson, Simon Degan), as well as tragic events such as "The Train Wreck at Almonte".   Historic moments of social importance, too easily forgotten, have been saved in song.   Oh Molly dear, I greatly fear that soon I will be gone I'm going away on a harvest train to the far Saskatchewan To reap the grain on the western plain, where the buffalo used to roam And I'll leave you alone in your Island home, my dear Colleen Bawn.   Prairie harvest excursions, where the CPR transported workers from across Canada to help bring in the wheat, were an important part of how many people came to know the west. Indeed, numerous pioneers credit their exposure on these trips as a reason for settling on the prairies. The excursions ended when wheat combining machines were invented, but two songs ("Prairie Harvest Excursion" and "Harvest Train") bring these times back. They gently remind us that even after profitability is gone and the programs have faded away, the social impact remains.   Trains have also been involved in many other aspects of life. Perhaps the most sung about times are when they have served to either separate or unite star-crossed lovers. Ray Griff's "Canadian Pacific", well known in country music circles, tells of a lover on a cross-Canada trip to see his girl in B.C. Stompin' Tom Connors left his blues behind on "The Flyin' CPR". Tony Turner's "Prairie Railroad" tells of a young couple separated by insensitive parents, with the train serving as the vehicle for their heartbreak. And, of course, there are many songs pining for the old days when rail travel was king.   The price of progress so they saw, the CPR has gone away The railway don't run here no more   Classical musicians have also celebrated the CPR. Of note, among many, is Eldon Rathburn, whose soundtracks for the National Film Board have generated a tremendous legacy of railway music. For example, his "Spiral Tunnel Boogie" plays on blues rhythms to picture a train fading in and out as it wends its way back on itself through the tunnels.   All in all, the CPR has inspired a tremendous volume of music. This article barely scratches the surface, but does give a sense of the impact that Canadian Pacific has had on the music ways of our country. If you're interested in sourcing any of the songs mentioned above, or pursuing a full list of CPR music that I have documented so far, please log on to www.ironTrail.ca.   * Tim Rogers has been researching Canadian song traditions for more than 30 years. His articles can be found in numerous academic and popular publications. He is also a musical performer, having recently released a CD entitled "Songs of the Iron Trail". Tim is currently working on a book about Canadian railway music. He can be reached at tbrogers@ucalgary.ca.   This Canadian Pacific Railway News article is copyright 2001 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with their permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.