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Tales of the
CPR
by David
Laurence Jones
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The author of this latest book
about the Canadian Pacific Railway worked in Windsor Station's dark archive vaults
for fourteen years. Omer Lavallee being his boss and mentor during most of that
period. His companion employee was Jonathan Hanna, the current CPR Corporate
Historian, who opens the book with a two page foreword relating an anecdote
involving Omer Lavallee and their time at CPR Archives.
The book comprises four chapters of short stories collected over the years from
a multitude of sources. This perfect bound book is illustrated with
ninety-seven black and white photographs. The cover illustration
was created by Larry Stilwell.
Those who are familiar with CPR history will immediately recognize the following
keywords which will give you a general feeling for some of the subjects covered
by the author: Imperial Limited, cowtown, Palliser, The
Canadian, Royal Hudsons, ready-made farms, silk, Empress of
Ireland, posters, Banff, Van Horne, Shaughnessy, Painter, irrigation district,
Bassano, land, Goddamn the CPR, mural lounge, Montreal Locomotive Works, Windsor,
Price, vista dome, Rogers Pass, Strathcona... and the list could go on much
further.
Writing about The Canadian the author says "To draw attention
to the thoroughly modern appearance of the ribbed stainless-steel
cars and the bright, new diesel locomotives, Gyrolites were installed on top of
the lead engines. As The Canadian moved along the track, these
specially designed spotlights traced figure eights in the night sky with
concentrated laser like beams." This section of the book is rightly named
"A Potent Symbol of National Pride".
Without doubt, you will enjoy this trip on "The World's Greatest Travel
System". Make space for it in your collection.
Book Statistics
Jones, David Laurence
Tales of the CPR
2002
Fifth House - Fitzhenry & Whiteside
1511 - 1800 4th St. SW
Calgary AB T2S 2S5
ISBN 1-894856-10-4
Perfect bound
8 x 10 inches
20.25 x 25.25 centimeters
200 pages
97 photographs
1 drawing
0 maps
$29.91
© Copyright 2002 William C. Slim
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