An Article by Ward Cameron

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Riding The Rails

Canmore Leader--October 1993

As the old adage goes: "behind every man, there is a great woman"—well behind John A. Macdonald, there was always Lady Agnes. The building of the railroad was one of the greatest epics this country has ever known, and when the rails were laid, it was Lady Agnes who stole the show on the first trans Canada trip of the fledgling C.P.R.

The excitement could be felt across this young country as the first train made its way towards the coast. British Columbia, which had only joined confederation on the promise of a rail line linking it with the rest of Canada, was unusually eager to see the arrival of this west bound locomotive. As the train made its way westward in 1886, Lady Agnes became entranced by the scenery until the confines of the rail car became unbearable. After coming to the conclusion to ride the cow catcher through the Rockies, she inquired about the possibility with the engineer and he "seemed to think that a very bad job indeed. To a sensible, level-headed man as he is, such an innovation on all general rules of traveling decorum was no doubt very startling". Before long though, he realized that he was up against an unrelenting adversary and, upon finally asking her what she intended to use as a seat, she grabbed an empty candle box nearby and had the brakeman place it on the buffer beam.

Soon she had perched atop the box as the train slowly chugged out of Laggon (Lake Louise) Station bound for the Big Hill. For those, like myself, that are too young to have experienced the big hill first hand, it was the most fearsome obstacle along the C.P.R. main line. The contract awarded the C.P.R. allowed for a maximum gradient of 2.2%, however the steepness of the Kicking Horse Pass necessitated a temporary gradient of 4.5%—more than twice that allowed in the contract. Today the train whizzes through a long figure eight shaped series of tunnels which bring the gradient back down to the proper 2.2%—however these tunnels were a distant dream on that day in 1886 when Lady Agnes perched herself atop the cow catcher.

Bound for the Kicking Horse Pass, with the train superintendent tenuously sitting by her side, they could not help feel the anticipation as they sped towards a hill which had derailed many other engines. As Lady Agnes described her feelings during the descent: "With a firm right hand grasping the iron stanchion, and my feet planted on the buffer beam, there was not a yard of that descent in which I faltered for a moment. If I had, then assuredly in the wild valley of the Kicking Horse River, on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, a life had gone out that day!"

As the train made its way down the steep gradient towards Field, fear transformed into exhilaration as they neared the bottom of the pass. As Lady Agnes put it: "There is glory of brightness and beauty everywhere, and I laugh aloud on the cowcatcher, just because it is all so delightful!"