When the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) built through the Rockies in 1884 it laid track straight down the west slope of Kicking Horse Pass. Dropping 1,140 feet in 7.1 railway miles, this section of railway was a construction worker’s horror and a railroader’s nightmare that soon became known as the Big Hill. Intended to be temporary, the 4.5 percent grade, more than 3 miles long, saw use for 25 years until completion of the Spiral Tunnels in 1909. The two tunnels – unique in North America – loop over themselves, doubling the length of track and halving the grade. Incorporating more than 100 photographs, The Spiral Tunnels and the Big Hill – An Illustrated Railway History describes the construction of the CPR and recounts the tales of daring, defiance, and disaster on the second-steepest mainline track ever operated in North America. Maps and diagrams reveal how the Spiral Tunnels create a safer grade for trains. The text provides up-to-date descriptions of today’s locomotives and explains the many challenges of operating trains on mountain grades. A Canadian bestseller for three decades, this revised edition will be informative reading for railfans, for travellers in the Rockies, and for those with an interest in Canadian history.

With 54 black and white photographs and maps, Rails Across the Rockies tells the stories of the surveying and construction of the Canadian Pacific, Grand Trunk Pacific, and Canadian Northern railways in the glory days of Canadian railroading. The construction of the Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk Pacific, and the Canadian Northern railways rank among the greatest political and financial gambles in Canada’s history. Politicians, engineers, and surveyors bickered and scrapped for years over why, how, and where to locate the rails. Each of the enterprises helped to stitch the country together physically while threatening to tear it apart politically. Great Railways of the Canadian West tells the stories of the scheming and the daring, and the monumental physical toil of laying steel across the mountains in the golden age of railroading in Canada.

In 1882, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company committed to building Canada’s first trans-continental railway across unknown ground in the Selkirk Mountains of southern British Columbia. It was a gamble that almost scuttled the project and the promise of the young country. During the next three years, a small army of surveyors, engineers, and labourers cleared the grade and built track across Rogers Pass—the only break in the Selkirk Mountains—a place that defined wilderness. Trestles, tunnels, snowsheds, bridges, and miles of looping track—the Canadian Pacific Railway has since employed them all to reduce the dangers and to make railway operations in Rogers Pass safer and more reliable. Gravity, Steam, and Steel recounts the triumphs and tragedies of building and operating a railway in a place where 40 feet of snow falls each year, and where trains routinely run on grades that many other railways would consider impossibly steep.

Railway history comes alive in this fascinating book about one of Canada's most incredible railway stories. The Spiral Tunnels and The Big Hill describes the construction and operation of the world-famous Canadian Pacific Railway through the treacherous Kicking Horse Pass in the Canadian Rockies. The perils of operating the section of track at the notorious ""Big Hill"" on the western slopes of the Great Divide are recounted through tales of disaster and defiance and are illustrated with over 60 black and white photographs. The Spiral Tunnels are explained through stories, maps and diagrams which reveal the operation of the tunnels and how they solved the problems which resulted in so much mayhem and madness. The Spiral Tunnels and The Big Hill is informative and entertaining reading for railways enthusiasts, as well as for those with a general interest in the human history of the Canadian Rockies and Yoho National Park.

The world of the railways weaves a spell over many people. In this engaging book railway expert Anthony Lambert presents some of the best stories. From the early days come tales of financial skulduggery and worries that sparks from locomotives might ignite sheep's fleeces. But as the railway transformed the modern world, attitudes changed, and railways were opened to great rejoicing and even religious blessing. The perennial appeal of the steam locomotive generated a pride amongst railwaymen and a fascination among the public. The romantic aspects of the railway were soon celebrated - and not just the unexpected engagement that came from a snowbound train in the Highlands or the sexual shenanigans of the Orient Express. Here are stories of railway travel, from the palatial carriages of tsars and maharajahs to the open trucks of the 'lower orders', mishaps and faux pas, and tales of how ticket inspectors used to have to hold on to the outside of carriages while clipping tickets. From tales of lonely stations and signal-boxes in Scotland, to the unlucky engineer eaten by a lion in a carriage in Kenya, Lambert casts his net across railways worldwide to gather the most entertaining material. There are stories here that would enliven even a cheerless commute on the 18.01, and remind you that our railways really were - and occasionally still are - full of derring-do, romance and character.

Clyde Charles “Slim” Williams (1881-1974) first arrived in Alaska in 1900 at the age of 19, looking for adventure. He spent the next three decades trapping, hunting, breeding dogs, and blazing trails throughout the frontier. The paths of two rugged adventurers crossed and the result is wonderful entertainment. Pioneer Alaska Sourdough Slim Williams told his life’s story to Dick Morenus, a city-bred man who had lived in the Canadian bush. Because both spoke the language of the North, this story captures the drama and thrills just as Slim experienced them. After reading Alaska Sourdough, you will be as glad as Dick and Slim are that they were fortunate enough to meet.