Link to:
Presidents | Vice-Presidents | Land Commissioners | Subdivisions | See Also | Sources
To discuss the history of the CPR and its involvement in our great province, you have to go back to the very decade of Manitoba’s entry into confederation. In 1874, the community of Winnipeg discovered that plans were being drawn for the construction of a transcontinental rail line to run through Selkirk to the north. Immediately, a citizens’ committee was established and a petition was delivered to Ottawa. In true Canadian fashion, debate over the issue lasted for seven years when in 1881, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was formed and agreed to construct the line through our present provincial capital. This important decision would help pave the way for Winnipeg to become the “hub of commercial activity in the northwest.” For the next 16 months following, immigrants migrated to the city in search of employment and hope causing the population to explode from a few hundred to 14,000. Due to this massive influx, the CPR announced 2,000 new jobs at their shops.
This period was an intensification of the expansion of the mid-1870s on a scale which was unprecedented in Canadian history. For a short time, the sky was the limit. Winnipeg was again “the new Chicago” and speculation drove the prices of lots on Portage Avenue or Main Street above the going rate for similar frontage on Michigan Avenue or State Street in the “Windy City.” Emerson and West Lynne, its long-since devoured twin across the Red, were touted in local and eastern papers as improved versions of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Crystal City, Rapid City, Nelsonville a long list of metropolises-to-be clamoured for the attention of settlers and received that of speculators. Winnipeg was prompted by the speculation fever to move heaven and earth in order to secure the crossing of the Red River by the new Canadian Pacific Railway.
During this time, construction of the railway was supervised from offices in Winnipeg. Facilities were located near the Point Douglas area of the city. During the early part of the 20th century, this marshalling yard was one of the largest in the world. It was the centre point of the Dominion, moving material and goods in both directions between eastern and western Canada.
Over the years, this railway company has changed and evolved in many aspects including service lines, modes of transportation and even things as simple as its name. CP Rail System, or CPRS, was changed again to Canadian Pacific Railway Company in 1996. The nature of Manitoba-based railway services have also evolved throughout the 20th century and beyond, including operations across the nation.
One such evolution was in 1994 when emphasis was focussed on consolidating customer service for all its Canadian operations into a new centre in Winnipeg. At that time, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was expecting to employ more than 200 people many of whom would have been transferred from urban centres all across the country. Winnipeg was also the chosen site for the CPR’s headquarters for the “grain team,” its company’s marketing unit for transporting western Canada’s most fundamental commodity.
The Canadian Pacific Railway’s activities and involvement in Manitoba still continue today. its main heavy repair facility is located in Weston yards. Additionally, services such as a diesel shop which is responsible for a large part of CPR’s fleet and the Transcona which welds standard rails into quarter-mile long continuous rails for installation in main line track across the country have been built and maintained.
The railway employs 1000s of Manitobans and spends approximately 2 billion dollars in our province on payroll, provincial taxes, purchases and capital spending. This is in addition to indirect spending generating by business done with Manitoba-based suppliers. It maintains and operates approximately a 2000 km network of line to serve its Manitoba customers and connects them to terminals and major coastal ports throughout the North American continent.
An article in CP Rail News dated 28 August 1974 had this to say about the Canadian Pacific Railway’s involvement in the building of our province: “The diversification of Canadian Pacific operations is well known but would you believe 50 years in the entertainment business? Winnipeg Beach was where it all started at the turn of the century when CP Rail opened an amusement park, complete with roller coaster, Ferris wheel, merry-go-round and dance hall, among other things and a rail line to get people there. The company also built a hotel on the site the Empress where, in its heyday, picnickers could buy a gallon of beer for 25 cents and the Sunday concert was the social event of the week. There was a 400-foot pier and an 800-foot boardwalk where families strolled up and down in the sun, and friends and lovers did likewise, more or less on moonlight excursions.”
An MHS Centennial Business Award was presented to Janet Weiss, General Manager (Grain) of Canadian Pacific Railway Company, by MHS President Steven Place, on 3 April 2004.
In April 2023, the company merged with US-based Kansas City Southern to form CPKC.
Period
President
1881-1888
George Stephen (1829-1921)
1888-1899
William Cornelius Van Horne (1843-1915)
1899-1918
Thomas George Shaughnessy (1853-1923)
1918-1942
Edward Wentworth Beatty (1877-1943)
1942-1947
D’alton Corry Coleman (1879-1956)
1947-1948
William M. Neal (1886-?)
1948-1955
William Allan Mather (1885-1961)
1955-1964
Norris Roy “Buck” Crump (1904-1989)
1964-1966
Robert Alton Emerson (1911-1966)
1966
Norris Roy “Buck” Crump (1904-1989)
1966-1972
Ian David Sinclair (1913-2006)
1972-1981
Frederick Stewart Burbidge (1918-2013)
1981-1990
William Stinson
1990-2006
Robert J. Ritchie
2006-?
Fred Green
Period
Vice-President
1918-1942
D’alton Corry Coleman (1879-1956)
1942-1958
?
1958-1962
G. E. Mayne
1962-1964
S. M. Gossage
1964-1967
D. M. Dunlop
1967-1969
Keith Campbell
1969-1974
R. S. Allison
Period
General Manager
1918-1927
Charles Murphy (1865-1941)
Period
Chief Dispatcher (Winnipeg)
?-1908
W. J. Wren
1908-1914
Ernest George Trump (1878-1943)
1915-1916
W. E. Cline
1916-1917
J. L. Able
1917-1918
H. L. Horn
1918-1919
William Munroe
1919-1924
Maurice Helston (1869-1931)
1924-1937
Eric Gordon Skelding (1886-1973)
Period
Land Commissioner
1874-1888
John Henry McTavish (1837-1888)
1888-1890
Lauchlan Alexander Hamilton (1852-1941)
1890-1912
Frederick Thomas Griffin (1853-1935)
1912-?
?
CPR Subdivision
Location
Mile
Station
BuiltJunction(s)
Abandonment
1972 Elevators (number)
Alida
0.0
?
Abandoned (13 March 1978)
R-25959Pool (2)
9.0
?
13.1
?
18.6
1910
28.8
1910
Alida (Saskatchewan)
Arborg
0.0
?
Abandoned (27 May 2014)
Federal, Soo
Bears
3.7
?
?
?
11.6
1913
18.2
1910
19.4
?
Abandoned (3 June 2008)
27.8
1924
33.0
?
37.7
1927
45.9
?
51.2
?
55.8
1926
61.9
?
66.8
?
70.3
?
74.3
1906
Arcola
0.0
?
4.8
?
9.2
1904
17.3
1900
26.1
1898
32.5
1898
?
?
41.7
1909
Arcola (Saskatchewan)
Boissevain
0.0
?
Abandoned (24 September 1975)
R-21118Parrish & Heimbecker, Paterson, Pool (2), UGG
4.3
?
7.4
?
12.7
?
18.9
1914
24.3
?
27.0
1914
35.3
?
Pool (2)
Bredenbury
0.0
?
Pool (3), UGG
?
?
10.0
1900
18.3
1929
Pool (3), UGG (2)
?
?
Pool, Pioneer
27.6
1900
?
?
Pool (2)
36.4
1926
UGG (2)
?
?
44.6
1912
Pool (2)
51.2
1886
59.2
1900
66.8
1921
?
?
76.5
1900
84.1
1892
89.2
1920
Broadview
0.0
?
Federal (2), National, Pool, UGG
8.2
1928
15.7
1928
20.4
?
24.8
1926
32.0
1907
40.0
1906
47.2
?
?
55.4
1919
?
?
64.1
1904
Pool (2)
70.3
1905
Broadview (Saskatchewan), McAuley
Carberry
0.0
?
Federal, Soo
7.5
1900
15.2
1882
22.4
1882
Paterson (2)
28.9
1882
Paterson (2)
35.3
1882
40.5
1882
48.8
1882
Pool
55.6
63.6
?
71.1
1882
77.8
1902
84.8
1911
92.9
1882
Pool
98.3
1900
105.8
1900
UGG
114.5
1882
121.8
1890
127.6
1882
133.1
1904
Federal (2), National, Pool, UGG
Carman
0.0
?
Abandoned (30 August 1992), 1992-R-270
6.0
1905
12.2
1900
20.2
?
Abandoned (17 November 1975), R-21238
24.4
31.7
?
Pool
39.9
?
Abandoned (4 November 1977), R-25534
43.9
?
49.2
?
Emerson
0.0
1909
Central (2), Federal, Maple, National (2), Pool
9.3
?
15.0
?
21.0
1922
28.5
1879
32.2
1917
Pioneer, Pool (2)
37.0
1921
45.9
1913
53.9
1927
58.8
?
60.6
?
63.8
Estevan
0.0
?
8.2
1910
15.9
1912
Pool (2), UGG
21.6
?
?
?
25.7
?
32.3
1900
36.0
?
?
41.7
1926
Pool (2)
50.4
1922
58.7
1916
63.9
?
72.9
1898
Gainsborough (Saskatchewan)
Fallison
0.0
Abandoned (1962)
?
?
Glenboro
0.0
?
Federal, Soo
9.0
?
15.3
1904
Pool (2)
22.8
?
28.8
1906
Pool (2)
36.5
1906
42.9
?
47.4
?
56.5
?
Paterson
63.1
1930
?
?
Abandoned (18 September 2014)
72.2
1900
79.1
1906
87.6
1907
92.1
?
Pool (2)
97.6
1910
106.6
1909
Pool (2)
114.4
?
122.2
?
Banting
?
?
128.0
?
133.9
1902
Pool, UGG
142.2
1901
147.3
?
152.7
?
Pool (2), UGG
Gretna
0.0
?
Federal, Pool (2)
6.8
1890
Federal, Pool
13.8
1890
Abandoned (July 1996)
Kaleida
0.0
?
Abandoned (July 1963)
6.2
?
Keewatin
0.0
?
Federal, Soo
1.2
?
Central (2), Federal, Maple, National (2), Pool
6.5
1912
13.3
1906
20.7
1917
26.0
?
Scottish Co-operative
33.5
1924
37.8
1909
39.6
?
50.6
?
53.6
?
?
65.6
?
73.5
1936
80.1
?
Cross Lake
89.8
?
Kenora (Ontario)
Lac du Bonnet
0.0
?
Abandoned (circa 1990)
Federal, Soo
7.9
1911
14.8
?
21.5
1900
27.0
?
29.1
1920s
Saldo
?
?
35.6
1907
38.6
?
44.8
?
Abandoned (10 May 1990), 1990-R-125
Buchan
49.7
?
Aneda
52.1
?
55.7
?
Sproule
59.8
?
65.8
1926
La Riviere
0.0
?
Federal, Soo
9.3
?
11.6
?
18.3
1929
24.4
?
29.7
?
35.5
?
39.3
?
42.6
1904
49.9
1929
56.1
1890
Federal, Pool (2)
61.4
?
Federal
65.7
1902
Federal, Pool, UGG
73.8
1906
81.2
Abandoned (1 May 2008)
87.8
1890
94.5
1923
?
?
102.3
1900
Pool (2), UGG
105.4
?
112.9
1898
Lenore
0.0
?
Federal (2), National, Pool, UGG
5.5
?
16.3
?
Abandoned (31 July 1980), R-26840
23.2
1904
27.2
1904
Cossar
33.2
?
35.3
1910
43.7
1910
46.7
1919
50.3
1902
Pool (3)
57.2
1902
Lyleton
0.0
?
Abandoned (1996)
8.4
1909
Federal, Pool (2)
12.4
?
UGG (2)
17.2
1898
Abandoned (31 August 1983), WDR-00349
21.9
?
Pool (2)
28.0
?
Abandoned (7 December 1977), R-25745
32.4
?
37.2
1900
McAuley
0.0
?
Abandoned (July 1962)
8.7
?
16.8
?
Miniota
0.0
1900
Abandoned (30 December 1980), R-30800
4.9
1927
9.5
1917
15.6
1902
?
?
23.6
1906
?
?
Abandoned (31 December 1978), R-26840
32.4
1912
Pool
37.6
1909
Federal
43.8
1900
Minnedosa
0.0
?
Pool (3), UGG
6.1
?
9.9
1900
Pool
17.1
1890
?
26.8
?
35.1
1900
43.2
?
51.5
1923
Pool (2)
61.0
1907
Pool
?
?
70.2
1897
Pool (2)
?
?
78.6
Napinka
0.0
?
Abandoned (1 May 2008)
Federal, Pool
7.5
1897
12.4
1930
Federal, Pool A, Pool B
17.0
1898
21.2
1903
28.7
?
Pool, UGG
35.5
1890
42.8
1898
51.4
1905
57.7
?
62.2
1900
Pool (2), UGG
69.8
1902
Parrish & Heimbecker, Paterson, Pool (2), UGG
75.1
?
80.3
1926
85.3
?
89.9
1901
95.2
?
100.2
1900
108.7
?
Rapid City
0.0
?
Abandoned (1980)
Federal (2), National, Pool, UGG
5.5
?
9.5
?
16.3
1900
23.8
?
33.3
?
35.8
1900
42.7
1912
51.3
?
Pool (3), UGG
Reston
0.0
?
Abandoned (September 1960)
Pool, UGG
8.1
?
16.6
1907
Rocanville
0.0
?
Pool, UGG
?
8.8
?
60.8
?
68.4
?
73.5
?
83.6
?
Pool (2)
Russell
0.0
?
Abandoned (1996)
5.2
?
11.0
1928
?
?
Paterson
17.8
1923
Paterson, UGG (2)
23.9
1923
Snowflake
0.0
?
Abandoned (31 December 1980), R-27650
Pool
4.4
?
9.8
1900
16.2
1898
25.9
Abandoned (?)
31.9
?
Varcoe
0.0
?
Abandoned (26 September 1975), R-21119
Pool (2)
7.2
?
11.0
?
17.3
1913
26.7
1905
Abandoned (30 July 1978), R-26840
33.5
?
36.9
47.0
1911
Pool (2)
55.5
1910
Winnipeg Beach
0.0
?
Federal, Soo
8.3
?
12.9
?
19.5
1904
22.9
1928
30.9
?
35.1
1927
38.6
1900
44.8
?
45.8
?
46.9
?
49.0
?
50.1
?
50.7
?
51.8
?
53.6
?
58.4
1906
Abandoned (3 June 1991), 1991-R-290
Parrish & Heimbecker
58.9
?
63.0
?
64.0
?
70.3
?
77.4
?
83.8
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Railway Stations
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Canadian Pacific Railway Communications Building / Manitoba Metis Federation Building (150 Henry Avenue, Winnipeg)
Manitoba Organization: Canadian Pacific Railway Curling Club / Victoria Curling Club
Manitoba Business: Canadian National Railway
Manitoba Business: Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway
The Background of the Battle of Fort Whyte by James A. Jackson
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1945-46 SeasonEarly Manitoba Railroads by Howard W. Winkler
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 10, 1953-54 SeasonRails Across the Red - Selkirk or Winnipeg by Ruben C. Bellan
MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1961-62 SeasonRailways and the Manitoba School Question by James A. Jackson
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 30, 1973-74 SeasonJohn M. Egan, A Railway Officer in Winnipeg, 1882-1886: An Account of Canadian Pacific’s First Years in the Manitoba Capital by Omer Lavallee
MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 33, 1976-77 SeasonThe 1883 Locomotive Engineers' Strike in the Canadian North West by David Spector
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 22, Number 1, Winter 1977The Country Railway Station in Manitoba by Charles W. Bohi and H. Roger Grant
Manitoba Pageant, Volume 23, Number 3, Spring 1978Review: Glenbow Museum, The Great CPR Exposition: The Impact of the Railway on Western Canada, 1883-1930 by Donald B. Smith
Manitoba History, Number 9, Spring 1985The Rise and Fall of the Manitoba Railway Garden by Edwinna von Baeyer
Manitoba History, Number 31, Spring 1996A Fallen Splendour: The Challener Murals of Winnipeg’s Royal Alexandra Hotel by Susan Moffatt Rozniatowski
Manitoba History, Number 42, Autumn/Winter 2001-2002General Rosser’s Legacy by Ken Storie
Manitoba History, Number 56, October 2007
“Named General Manager of C.P.R. western lines,” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 October 1918, page 8.
“Train dispatcher for C.P.R. promoted; Cline sent to McLeod,” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 September 1916, page 5.
“New C.P.R. dispatcher,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 September 1917, page 5.
Error processing SSI fileCanadian Pacific Timetable, Folder C, Western Canada and Transcontinental Schedule, April 27, 1958 to October 25, 1958. [Charles Cooper’s Railway Pages]
Canadian Pacific’s Western Depots: The Country Stations in Western Canada by Charles W. Bohi and Leslie S. Kozma, South Platte Press, 1993.
We thank Chuck Bohi, Matt Bialek, and Mike Lisowski for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 November 2024