Visit the Last Spike and the Railway Museum
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On November 7, 1885 at 9:22 am the ceremonial final spike was
the driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie by CPR railroad
financier Donald Smith marking that end of a saga of natural disasters,
financial crises, and even rebellion that plagued Canada's first
transcontinental railroad right from its beginning.
Not only did the Last Spike signal the completion of the CPR, it remains a symbol of national unity in Canada. The 1871 promise of a transcontinental railway joining the BC to Central Canada had been a major factor in British Columbia's decision to join the Canadian Confederation. Due to government mismanagement, the project was not completed by the original deadline of 1881 resulting in threats of secession by some BC politicians. But the saga had a happy ending when the work was assigned to the newly incorporated CPR company, which was allowed an additional ten years to complete the line, and did it in only five. On May 14th, 1880 work began on the Pacific Coast directed by Andrew Onderdonk who was responsible for the stretch between Port Moody on the coast and Eagle Pass in the Monashee Mountains. His primarily Chinese workforce ran out of rails at Eagle Pass in October of 1885, one month before the arrival of the crews from the East under the supervision of James Ross. According to the Canadian Library and Archives in the crowd of workers and dignitaries waiting to commemorate the occasion was 17-year-old Edward Mallandaine. Fifty years later, he remembered this special day: "Soon there remained but a single rail to be laid. ... The spectators, numbering probably fifty outside of the workmen, intently watched each spike as it was driven. Finally, there remained but one more spike to be driven. It was partly driven in and a hammer was given to Sir Donald Smith to drive it home... in a most workmanlike manner....” However Smith was not an accomplished tracklayer and his first attempt to drive the spike was unsuccessful. His blow bent the spike and it had to be replaced. His second attempt was accurate and marked the completion of the CP railway line. The original spike was never preserved but the bent spike was retained by Donald Smith’s family and was presented to Canada’s National Museum of Technology by Smith’s great grandson, Lord Strathcona in the centennial ceremony at Craigellachie on November 7th 1985. After visiting the site of the Last Spike, make your way to the Revelstoke Railway Museum – one of the major tourist attractions for the region. The museum presents the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Columbia Mountains, as well as the role the railway and its workers, have played in building Canada as a nation. A large collection of artifacts, historical photographs, artwork, and full-sized rolling stock are displayed, including a steam locomotive and diesel 5500. |
The 5468 Steam Engine that was used for the CP Columbia Line is on display at the Railway Museum in Revelstoke.
The famous photograph of the Last Spike is on display at the rest stop in Craigellachie
A monument to the Last Spike at the rest stop in Craigellachie
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HOW TO GET THERE
– The site of the Last Spike is now a popular rest stop on the Trans- Canada
Highway, 45km west of Revelstoke, right beside the main CPR line. The site
includes a seasonal interpretive centre and gift shop, as well as a picnic area
and monument. The Railway Museum in
located at 710 Track St W. Turn into
Revelstoke off the Trans-Canada Highway at the entrance marked with two large
black bears and follow Victoria Road until you see the museum then take a left
at Long Avenue and a right at Track Street West. For more information visit www.railwaymuseum.com or call Toll
Free: 1-877-837-6060.
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