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By Al Sholund
Port Moody resident and Freedom of the City honouree |
Port Moody’s first train station, built in 1882, welcomed the first transcontinental passenger train in 1886.
Where was the first spike on the transcontinental railway driven? When B.C. joined Confederation in 1871, it was promised a railway system to Eastern Canada within 10 years. It was not until 1879, after B.C. had threatened to cede from the union, that contracts were let for construction. One contract, held by Andrew Onderdonk, was to build a line between Port Moody (which the government had just declared as the “Western Terminus” of the line) and Kamloops Lake and eventually to Craigellachie, 40 miles west of Revelstoke. The last spike ceremony on November 7, 1885 joining the west to the east line is well documented and photographed.
But the first spike honour goes to Bonfield, Ontario where the 125th anniversary will be celebrated in June, as recognized by the Railway Hall of Fame. Bonfield is between North Bay and Mattawa on Trans Canada Highway 17. Bonfield had been the Western terminus of the Canada Central Railway with connections to Ottawa and Toronto. It was one of the lines absorbed by the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. when it was given a contract on February 15, 1881 to construct the railway between Bonfield and Port Moody – a total of 2,540 miles.
The completion of the all-Canadian line in 1885 led to the historic first passenger train hauled by Engine 371 from Montreal to Port Moody on July 4, 1886 which we celebrate as Golden Spike Days.
The picture taken in 1886 shows the original Port Moody Station built in 1882. The dock and warehouse was built to facilitate sailing ships bringing railway supplies from Britain. The ships had to sail around the tip of South America. In the middle is Engine 371 preparing for its next scheduled trip east.
Onderdonk used Port Moody and Yale on the Fraser River as his base of operations.
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