Since I don't have access to a reference library right now it may be unwise to quote Sir William Cornelius Van Horne. If the quote isn't precise, please feel free to correct me.

Very shortly after the Canadian Pacific Railway was established Van Horne realized the potential their route through the Rocky Mountains would have as a draw for tourists and the subsequent revenue it could generate. He was quoted as saying "If we can't export the scenery then we'll import the tourists". Now, 121 years later (CPR was incorporated in 1883.) we CAN export the scenery, virtually, with the use of computer software.

Various individuals and companies throughout the world have taken advantage of Microsoft's Train Simulator (MSTS) program to produce add-ons and route packs. One such enterprise is "Maple Leaf Tracks" which has produced a route sold as "Kicking Horse Pass". Their route pack creates CPR's Laggan Subdivision, or most of it, between Field, British Columbia, and Calgary, Alberta. Located along this route are the "Big Hill" and the Spiral Tunnels known to every Canadian railwayman, railfan, and model railroader. Maple Leaf Tracks has done a good job representing this subdivision. Their software includes CPR locomotives and appropriate trackside signs and structures found along the CPR right-of-way.

(Did you know that pressing the zero key while running MSTS displays the latitude and longitude coordinates which may then be used in conjunction with mapping software to physically locate that spot in the real world? Try it, it works.)

In addition to this, many other persons have created CPR rolling stock and locomotives that may be downloaded from various internet web sites for free. Using these three components it was possible to create the previous scenes of the 1955 "Canadian" on the western portion of the Laggan Subdivision. A web page at the MSTS web site described how to vary the camera position from the default setting supplied with the MSTS software.  (21 of 21)