3 July 2010

CP Railway Shares Past

The Empress steam locomotive pulls into the Canadian Pacific yard during Canada Day celebrations in Calgary. The last spike to be hammered in the tracks is now on display inside the train, which will be on tour this summer.

Calgary Alberta - Canadian Pacific Railway is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Last Spike by sharing its history with museums across Canada.
 
Friday, the Whyte Museum in Banff was the first to receive silverware and china from the late 1800s, bearing the CPR logo.
 
"It's great to have opportunities for other people to see this, to have it seen outside the archives in Montreal," Michale Lang, executive director of the museum, said of the nine pieces, including a silver platter and dish.
 
"It's really beautiful stuff."
 
The history of Banff National Park, which is also celebrating 125 years this year, and the railway are entwined, Lang added.
 
"Banff would not be here the way it is, we wouldn't have the kind of tourism we do," without the railway, she said.
 
Canadian Pacific plans to share more from its archives with other museums and railway historical societies across the country.
 
"In honour of our connected history we are donating unique items from our extensive collection of vintage memorabilia," CPR chief executive Fred Green said in a news release.
 
7 Nov 2010 marks 125 years from the day a ceremonial spike was driven into the rails to mark the completion of Canada's transcontinental railway.
 
That spike, on loan from the Canada Science and Technology Museum, will spend its summer aboard CPR's Empress steam engine and museum car, touring various communities.
 
Its first stop was at Fort Calgary on Canada Day.