Passenger and Merchant Ships of the Grand Trunk Pacific and Canadian Northern Railways

The untold history of the maritime branches of two giants of early-twentieth-century Canadian railroads.

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and the Canadian Northern Railway, two giants of Canadian rail transportation, each operated maritime shipping ventures during the early twentieth century.

Numerous vessels, including sidewheel, paddlewheel, and propeller steamers, tugboats, and barges, helped to build and serve these railways. Passenger and merchant ships sailed the West Coast, the Great Lakes, and St. Lawrence River, and served Canadian and European ports, in a time when groundings, shipwrecks, and sinkings often claimed lives.

These same steamship lines played an important role in World War I, when Canadian vessels ferried men and war supplies. Many troopships and freighters were torpedoed, and Canadian Northern’s entire transatlantic fleet was virtually obliterated.

Illustrated with contemporary photographs and drawings, this book pays tribute to the maritime enterprises of two trailblazing Canadian railway greats.