Hello all. I am trying to put together a family tree of sorts for all the major railroads in the US and Canada. I would like to know what rail roads merged to form other rail roads, or what roads were bought out by other roads. For example, I know BNSF was formed by a merger between Berlington Northern and Santa Fe. What can you tell me about the history of CP?? I will be researching this on the internet, but any info you can add would be greatly appreciated. I will be asking a similar question of each of the major Roads in the other Rail Road forums, so please feel free to lay out as much info as you like. Thanks All!
Try cp.ca and the Wikipedia entry is not too bad either... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Pacific although I am not entirely sure that the Silk Train info is right. Yes, it was a valuable commodity, but I believe the reason for speed was due to the fact it was perishable, not to guard against robbery. What would you do with a load of raw silk without access to manufacturing equipment? Andrew
Silk , per se, is not perishable. However, money is! The cost of capital tied up in either cocoons or finished silk goods, that had to be: auctioned on the silk exchange (centralized and relocated to same building as the"Swamp' in Great Depression rebuilding projects); and then delivered to thrower or finisher; to weaver; dyer; useable good(s) maker; retailer; consumer- all involve money costs for entities involved. Money costs money , or banks (or in this case more commonly what is known as mill factors , that are specialized lenders that can also sell the goods involved when deals go south < CIT financial by the way, is an example of a colossus that started as a factoring operation>) would not exist. You moved it quick and while theft of cocoons were not an issue, theft of semi finished and finished goods was a con- sideration. However, the real cost of large sums tied up speculatively, in the product was a primary factor in their expeditious handling. By the same token you should also consider that as silk goods were made into ubiquitously sought and available goods (e.g. women' hose), they were subject to theft and major transportation efforts to protect them. Arrow Motor Express , had over twenty armored cabbed tractors that hauled semi- trailers within the the nexus formed by New York City, Paterson/Passaic, N.J. , and the N.E. Pennsylvania area which processed, designed, and manufactured most of the silk goods sold in NA. Others, also made use of armed highway escorts to convoy goods, in the period from Great War through WW2. As far as railroads were concerned, most of the finished good traffic was passenger rather than freight oriented. Express, and Registered mail served to deliver to the mass of small clothing outlets that existed in that era. Sears Roebuck, Burdines, Marshall Field; Eatons ; et al. - would have gotten large shipments in their own express cars at central warehouses. Otherwise, they came by Post Office, or Express trucks, at other store locations. Good-Luck, PJB
CP acquired the Soo Line in the early 90s. The Soo itself had been "overseen" by the CP since it was constructed. The Soo was built as a new trade route above the Great Lakes instead of going through Chicago. CP provided the Soo with funds for building that line up north because they wanted part of the traffic. So the Soo Line nowdays is basically CP's US subsidary. I'm not too sure about the rest of CPs history but the links posted above will help
What does silkworm" seed" have to do with the traffic in silk cocoons or finished silk to North America? Nada, Nunca, Nicht, Nothing, that is! The growers might be concerned , but after Pasteur's work, I would assume they had figured it out pretty well; inasmuch as the tonnages rose until economic forces, - principally viscose fibers arrival on the scene, reduced silk to a strictly luxury role in 1930s. World War 2, cut off the principal source of supply and rebuilding afterwards further delayed silk's return to world markets. Nylon had also came front and center thanks to its massive growth as substitute during the war. It forever put silk in secondary status in the world's fiber scene. In any event, moth seeds were not an issue on this side of the ocean after we gave up attempts to raise silk ourselves in the early 19th century. Good-Luck, PJB
Grand Trunk Railway Formed CNR-CPR Was The First Railroad To Open Up Canada From Coast To Coast!It Is And Will Stay Privately Owned!CNR Was Gov't Owned-Well Run At That Time-Went Private And Look At The History-Who Know's!Too Many Accidents For My Blood-Bein An Ol CNR Hogger!
Silkworm seed is a term used to describe the raw silk cocoons and must be kept dry http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0007393
