Building the Impossible Railway 3: The Railway General
A new era in both the building of Canada's first inter-continental railroad, the Canadian Pacific, and the development of the growing nation, comes in 1882 with the entry on to the scene of William
Cornelius Van Home.
Described as ' the ablest railway general in the world,' he transforms the project from near collapse. Some of his decisions, most of them in fact, literally affect the face of Canada today. Canada's map with its vast empty spaces, was starting to be filled in, with the railroad as its vital iron link. Although American born, it is not for nothing that he has also been called ' The most Canadian of Canadians.' Indians also make a first appearance in this dramatised documentary of important developments in Canada's history.
Narrated by PIERRE BERTON
Based on The National Dream, and The Last Spike by PIERRE BERTON Producer JAMES MURRAY
Directors ERIC TILL, JAMES MURRAY A CBC production
The Great Railway, 18.50, from bookshop*