While the Canadian Pacific Railway was being pushed through the mountains and around the North Shore of Lake Superior in 1884, there was a great deal of speculation as to which West Coast community would be the road's Pacific terminal, and reap the inevitable economic benefits of that position.
 
The two original contenders were Victoria, on Vancouver Island, and Port Moody at the eastern tip of Burrard Inlet.
 
Although Port Moody had been specified by the federal government in the railway's charter, as it was the nearest navigable waterway, there were some drawbacks to the site.
 
Apart from being 22 kilometres from the entrance of the first narrows at English Bay, a steep hill ran up from the waterside leaving little room for townsite development. Also, the tide varied by as much as 4.2 metres and the port was subject to fog.
 
In the spring of 1884, Van Horne made the trip to the coast to assess the situation. Together with Premier William Smithe of Victoria, and Member of Parliament A.W. Ross of Winnipeg, he registered at the Elgin House, an established local hostelry, and received a number of prominent citizens who defended the suitability of Port Moody as the western terminus of the CPR.
 
Not wishing to show his hand too early, Van Horne was very non-committal, although he did state outright that no extensions or branchlines would be made from Port Moody without a considerable land grant from the federal government to cover the cost of construction.
 
Certainly, the company's own over-extended resources did not leave any possibility of the CPR financing such a line, and this was confirmed upon his return to Montreal after a meeting of the board of directors.
 
Equally, Van Horne made it quite clear that Port Moody could not remain as the terminus indefinitely.
 
"The matter has been carefully considered by our directors," he reported, "and they have concluded that there is not sufficient available room at Port Moody for their requirements, as it is estimated that not less than 400 acres of level ground will be required for railway purposes alone, and it would cost from two to four million dollars to reclaim this amount of land from the tide flats at Port Moody."
 
Rivals Target of Port Moody Scorn
 
The citizens of Port Moody however, determined to defend their interest in the matter, continued to promote their townsite as the terminus, while heaping scorn upon all potential rivals.
 
Due to the enormous cost of ferrying the trains to Victoria, should that location have been chosen, Vancouver Island never really received serious consideration. By this time, the principal rivals to Port Moody were Coal Harbour and English Bay, both sites having adequate depth of water and plenty of adjacent flat land.
 
Initially, however, Port Moody would have to suffice, and dock facilities and storage sheds were erected in preparation for the opening of the railway line. In keeping with the plans to soon extend the line, the wharf piles were constructed of wood rather than iron, and the station and storage facilities were modest.
 
Despite the inevitable move, Port Moody was determined to make the most of the occasion when the first scheduled passenger train arrived there on 4 June 1886.
 
  Multiple other sources indicate the date was 4 July 1886.
 
A letter sent to Van Horne read in part: "We heartily congratulate you, and the other members of the Directory of the Canadian Pacific Railway, on this the arrival of the first through daily train, at Port Moody, the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific line."
 
Within days, the first chartered ship, the W.B. Flint, arrived from the Orient with a cargo of 17,430 half-chests of tea headed for the east. Seven chartered vessels were sent from Japan during the next six months, and passenger trains left on a daily-except-Monday basis.
 
Alas, Port Moody's heady days as the busy Pacific port of the CPR did not last long, and the following year the line officially was extended to the new townsite of Vancouver on Coal Harbour.
 
The port facilities were disassembled and the docks abandoned, leaving the town to its destiny as a residential suburb of the western terminus and bustling metropolis of Vancouver.
 
Dave Jones.