Longer Answer Questions

1. To haul ore from Kootenay mines to the Vancouver seaport.
   –To link up with existing CPR line.
   –To keep mine profits and jobs in Canada.
   –To carry other freight and passengers along the southern parts of BC that weren’t served by the CPR route to the north.

2. Mountainous landscape, crossed three mountain ranges.
   --Needed considerable supplies, especially to build trestles and bridges across canyons.
   –Needed large work force over 6 year period. Sometimes hard to get workers.
   –Labourers performed hard and dangerous work.
   –Severe climate with lots of snow.

3. No earthmoving machinery available like we have today.
   –Needed black powder to blast route through rock. Route crossed three mountain ranges. Lots of explosive would have been used.
   –Mostly manpower used to remove rubble. Lots of work done with picks and shovels.

4. Put wooden ties on roadbed. Then put rails on ties. Pounded rails in place with spikes. Shovelled gravel around ties to keep them in place. Worked with track laying machine and rail cars carrying supplies.

5. Coquihalla section was particularly costly because of the difficult terrain – steep grades, granite walls.
   --Labourers had to work along the edge of a canyon.
   --They needed to build many extras like bridges (43), tunnels (13) and snowsheds (16).
   –Lots of snow and short season for working.