(Canadian Pacific Railway issued the following news release on November 10.)
CALGARY — Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada’s first transcontinental railway, will pay tribute to those who served Canada and the United States to preserve freedom in both countries.
CPR employees will bring all trains across Canada and the United States to a halt at 11 a.m. local time on November 11, observing two minutes of silence in honour of those who have served their country in war. The silence will be followed by one long train whistle blast as a CPR salute to the nations’ war veterans. There are about 250 trains moving daily on the CPR network. The railway has a fleet of about 1,600 locomotives in road and yard service.
“We owe the many freedoms we enjoy today to the brave men and women who served our countries and to those who continue to answer the call to preserve democracy,” said CPR President and CEO, Rob Ritchie, “and on behalf of the 16,000 employees of Canadian Pacific Railway, I can assure their friends and families they will never be forgotten.”
As part of Remembrance Day and Veterans’ Day ceremonies at CPR’s headquarters in Calgary, all CPR employees who fought for Canada and the United States will be honoured at a special monument outside the company’s head office. Current employees enlisted in the reserve in both countries also will be recognized at the event, as well as the role CPR, as a company, has had supporting Canada and the United States during armed conflicts.
Some 33,127 Canadian Pacific employees served in the last century’s two world conflicts alone. Sadly, 1,774 sacrificed their lives. A total of 27 Canadian Pacific ships were lost in the two world wars.
Ritchie noted CPR has been ready to transport troops, supplies and equipment in addition to making its shops available as part of the war effort. “Trains transported soldiers to company ships that ferried them and supplies across the oceans. As well, in World War II, CPR railway shops in Calgary and Montreal were converted into munitions factories and to build naval guns and tanks.”
By V-J Day, CPR shops had turned out 1,420 Valentine tanks, 75 main engines for corvettes, frigates and landing craft; over 600 naval vessel power equipment components; 3,000 naval guns; 1,650 naval gun mounts, 2,000 anti-submarine devices; and 120 gunnery range-finding and fire-control equipment.
Other notable background includes the following:
– Following World War I, CPR was the foundation of the Canadian Overseas Railway Reconstruction Corps – a group of skilled railroaders and engineers who went overseas during and after World War I to rebuild Europe’s railway infrastructure.
– When the fighting was over and the troops came home from WWI, CPR was instrumental in finding jobs for the ex-soldiers – providing more than 20,000 jobs to those who made it back from overseas fighting.
– Canadian Pacific Railway also provided the memorable setting for the two Quebec Conferences hosted at the Chateau Frontenac in 1943 and 1944. It was there in 1943 that Churchill and Roosevelt set the stage for the D-Day invasion.
– Even in modern times, CPR with its ownership of a Midwestern US railway (Soo Line) has participated in the Korean, Vietnam, and even Desert Storm overseas conflicts. Canadian Pacific Railway supplied a water tanker to the Falkland Islands war.
– At present, CPR participates in Canadian troop movements and field exercises, shipping army vehicles and tanks by rail to remote training grounds or in preparation for shipping overseas.
About Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway is a transcontinental carrier operating in Canada and the U.S. Its 14,000-mile rail network serves the principal centres of Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, and the U.S. Northeast and Midwest regions. CPR feeds directly into America’s heartland from the East and West coasts. Alliances with other carriers extend its market reach throughout the U.S. and into Mexico. Canadian Pacific Logistics Solutions provides logistics and supply chain expertise worldwide. For more information, visit CPR’s website at www.cpr.ca.