Ian Collard 168 pages softcover
In 1873 a company was formed
to construct the first railway across Canada, soon branching out into
shipping. Ships were chartered from the Cunard Line for service between
Vancouver, Yokohama, Shanghai and Hong Kong; they were awarded the mail
contract in 1889 for the service across the Pacific; and by 1903,
Canadian Pacific purchased Elder Dempster & Company, and sailed from
Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal. They obtained control of the
Atlantic, rail and Pacific routes, and later interest in the
Canadian-Australasian Line, becoming 'the world's greatest
transportation system', bridging two oceans and linking four continents.
Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships until
after the Second World War, CP Ships boasted such names as Empress of
Britain, Empress of Ireland and Empress of Canada. In later years moving
into freight and hotels, in 2005 CP merged with TUI AG. This new
history of the shipping side of Canadian Pacific includes a wealth of
illustrations and a detailed fleet list.
