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Canadian Pacific Railway facts for kids

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Canadian Pacific Railway
Public
Traded as TSX: CP
NYSE: CP
Industry Rail transport
Founded February 16, 1881; 144 years ago (1881-02-16)
Headquarters
Calgary, Alberta
,
Canada
Area served
 Canada
Contiguous United States
Key people
 Andrew Reardon
(Chairman)
Keith Creel
(President and CEO)
Eastbound over SCB
An eastbound CPR freight train at Stoney Creek Bridge descending from Rogers Pass

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), also known as CP Rail or CP, is a large railway company. It has train tracks across North America, in both Canada and the United States. This railway was built between Eastern Canada and British Columbia from 1881 to 1885.

When British Columbia joined Canada in 1871, the government made a big promise. They said they would connect British Columbia to the rest of Canada by train. Most trains on the CPR today carry goods (freight). The CPR used to run passenger trains, but Via Rail took over these services in 1978.

For many years, before airplanes were common, the railway was the main way to travel across Canada. Because of this, the CPR played a huge role in the settlement and growth of Western Canada.

The company that owns the CPR is called Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. It was once one of the biggest and most powerful companies in Canada.

What is the Canadian Pacific Railway?

The Canadian Pacific Railway is a major train network. It connects many cities across Canada and parts of the United States. The company's main office is in Calgary, Alberta. Its U.S. operations are based in Minneapolis.

Where does CP Rail operate?

CP Rail has about 12,500 miles (20,100 km) of track. In Canada, its tracks run from Montreal in the east to Vancouver in the west. They also go north to Edmonton. In the United States, CP Rail has tracks in cities like Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago, and New York City.

What is the CP Rail logo?

The logo for the Canadian Pacific Railway is a beaver. The beaver is a national symbol of Canada. This animal is known for its hard work and building skills.

How is CP Rail doing financially?

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited is a public company. This means its shares can be bought and sold by people. It trades on two major stock markets: the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock ticker symbol is CP.

Images for kids

  • Canadian Pacific Logo 1996

    An alternative CP logo, featuring a beaver, Canada's national animal

  • Canadian Pacific Railroad 2

    C.P.R. 2-6-0 locomotive no. 2000 and employees

  • Canadian Pacific Railway Crew at lower Fraser Valley (1881)

    Canadian Pacific Railway Crew laying tracks at lower Fraser Valley, 1883

  • Canadian Pacific Railway Survey Engineers, 1872

    Unidentified engineers of the Canadian Pacific Railway Survey, 1872

  • Map of part of Manitoba and the Canadian North-West Territories - Alberta, Assiniboia and Saskatchewan shewing system of land survey and the lines of the Canadian Pacific Railway CTASC

    Map from 1890 showing system of land survey and the lines of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Manitoba, Alberta, Assiniboia, and Saskatchewan. First Nations reserves are marked throughout with "I.R." for "Indian Reserve."

  • William Cornelius Van Horne

    William Cornelius Van Horne

  • Canadian Pacific Railroad 3

    CPR trestle bridge

  • LastSpike Craigellachie BC Canada

    Donald Smith, later known as Lord Strathcona, drives the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway, at Craigellachie, 7 November 1885. Completion of the transcontinental railway was a condition of BC's entry into Confederation.

  • Telegram to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald announcing the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway

    Telegram to Prime Minister John A. Macdonald announcing the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway, 7 November 1885

  • Canadian Trans-Continental Railways

    The system in 1906, soon after the construction of the transcontinental railway

  • Canadian Pacific First Train

    First Transcontinental Train arrives in Port Arthur on 30 June 1886

  • Land Ticket

    One of the CPR's land offerings, 1883

  • Canadian Pacific Ry free farms 1893

    CPR advertisement highlighting "Free Farms for the Million" in western Canada, circa 1893

  • Lethbridge High Level

    Lethbridge Viaduct

  • Canadian Pacific Railroad 1

    C.P.R. railway locomotive 2860

  • Kamloops on to Ottawa

    Strikers from unemployment relief camps climbing on boxcars as part of the On-to-Ottawa Trek, 1935

  • Canadian Pacific Railway train step stool

    CPR train step stool (Calgary station) c. 1950

  • Canadian Pacific Railway (8068155118)

    Canadian Pacific A1e class 4-4-0 No. 29 on static display in front of the railway's headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, 2012

  • CP RAIL TBAY

    CP EMD SD90MAC locomotive in Thunder Bay, Ontario

  • Campbellville ON GE-ES44AC CP-8863 2011-08-23

    GE ES44AC CP 8863 in Campbellville, Ontario

  • EMD SD60 SOO 6022

    Soo Line 6022, an EMD SD60, pulls a train through Wisconsin Dells, WI, 20 June 2004.

  • Angus

    An Angus Shops building converted into an SAQ liquor store

  • WCE train no. 901 at Waterfront

    West Coast Express at Waterfront station in Vancouver

  • Johnamacdonaldfuneraltrain

    Funeral train of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald

  • Train Noel Canadien Pacifique Montreal 2009

    Holiday Train in Montreal, November 2009

  • CP Holiday Train

    A crowd watches entertainers perform out of the CP Holiday Train

  • Canadian Pacific 2816

    Canadian Pacific 2816 Empress at Sturtevant, Wisconsin, 1 September 2007

  • To the Far East by the white Empress route (11411211505)

    Advertisement for Canadian Pacific steamships to the Far East, 1936

  • Countess-1

    Countess of Dufferin

  • CPR 2816 Locomotive

    CPR 2816 Locomotive

  • Canadian Pacific Railroad 2317

    CPR 2317, a G-3-c 4-6-2 Pacific-type locomotive built at the CPR's Angus Shops in 1923

  • Canadian Pacific - Trans Canada passenger train

    A CP passenger train heads east towards Calgary circa 1973

  • CPtrainleavesBoltonpassingsiding

    A westbound CP freight train pulls away from a passing siding after track clearance in Bolton, Ontario. It is headed by four GE AC4400CW locomotives (8627, 9615, 8629, and 8609).

  • CP 7028

    CP 7028, an EMD SD70ACU, in Nashotah, Wisconsin

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Canadian Pacific Railway para niños

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