Canada Railways
Prior to the 1830s, the main arteries for long distance transport in Canada were the rivers and lakes. It was therefore natural that the initial railway in Canada was designed to connect two of these waterways, running from La Prairie on the St Lawrence River to St Jean sur Richelieu providing access to Lake Champlain. This represented part of an important trade route between Montreal and fresh York. The line, few 16 miles (25km) in length, started in 1836.
This initial line was built to a gauge of 5ft 6in (1676mm), utilizing wooden rails with iron plates spiked to the top surface. These were replaced by iron rails in the 1850s, and the gauge was changed to standard (4ft 8½in, 1435mm) in the 1870s. Standard gauge was utilized for most public railways in Canada, although 3ft 6in (1067mm) gauge was utilized in Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island and there were a quantum of narrow gauge operations in remote areas serving the mining and logging industries.
The initial transcontinental railway was the Canadian Pacific Railway started in 1885. This was joined in 1912 by the Canadian Northern Railway (later part of Canadian National Railways).
Canadian National Railways came into being in 1918 when the government took over a quantum of ailing railway concerns. In the 1990s the concern was privatized as CN. It and Canadian Pacific remain the dominant operators in the Canadian rail freight sector, but both operators ceased passenger services in 1978, that function being taken over by the state owned VIA Rail Canada and (for commuter services) by various municipal undertakings.
The main freight companies also have operations in the United States of America, and their lines comprise a quantum of international connections. Several US freight companies operate into Canada, and a few international passenger services are operated by the US company Amtrak.
For Briefs of railways in each of the provinces, click on the map or on the list.

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