The railway lands on Burrard Inlet just east of the SeaBus terminal and Waterfront station are on the site of the original western terminus of Canada's first transcontinental railway.

2 April 2011

10 Highlights from the First 125 Years

Vancouver British Columbia - No event has been more fateful to the development of Vancouver than the decision of Canadian Pacific Railway to locate the western terminus of Canada's first transcontinental railway in Burrard Inlet. Port Moody, with its thriving sawmills, was trumpeted as the original terminus but by the time of Vancouver's founding, CPR had quietly cut a deal with British Columbia for a bigger prize a few kilometres west in the vicinity of Gastown.
 
The railway was given title to more than 25 kilometres of land, enough for an international-scale rail yard in support of an international-scale sea port, and the clout to determine the shape of downtown Vancouver, as well as enormous real estate development opportunities in False Creek including the creation of Shaughnessy.
 
It was a CPR executive, William van Horne, who chose to name the new community after Captain George Vancouver. The first transcontinental passenger train arrived in Vancouver in 1887, barely a year after the city's incorporation.
 
CPR still maintains its rail yard along Vancouver's Burrard Inlet shoreline. Port Metro Vancouver has developed into Canada's largest port and stands as a linchpin in the nation's economy, shipping grain, metal, minerals, fertilizer, forest products, and manufactured goods across the world.
 
Scott Simpson.
 
Editor's Note:  This is just the first highlight from the news article. The other nine were eliminated because they aren't railway related. Click on the Vancouver Sun logo to read the complete article.