My offline Wikipedia dump tells me the CNR was an amalgamation of smaller, earlier rail lines. Some had gone broke and some were already owned by the government. The collection began in 1918 as a war measure - presumably to facilitate transport of raw or manufactured materials. I'm not going to guess which. I'm told it was completed by 1923.
So I'm out here in the middle of the trees, trying to figure out why these towns are here.
I have no idea how old these railways actually are, where they went, or where the private and public ones began and ended. Were they all private to begin with, given that they weren't part of the CPR? Do they predate it? What is the deal?
I've had no Internet for hours so I have no way to tell conclusively. (lmao, Internet = conclusively!?)
My goal here is to try to capture pieces of the landscape. Clues.
With regard to private/public and the later amalgamation of earlier interests:
Would the tracks meander based on the conflicting or otherwise less than harmonious interests of the original investing parties? Conversely, would the interests of local investors coalesce to form a coherent flow in a direction that seemed obvious at the time?
It seems to me that may be a question that a map might answer (though perhaps seemingly circuitous routes might be explained by terrain). I'm sure someone wrote a masters thesis that would offer an explanation. Obviously I don't have access here. Also, I can all but guarantee I'm too lazy - and my fancies too passing - to be bothered with any kind of confirmation.
I suppose the moral of the story is that ideas are fun.
Here's an attempt at a map of the CNR through the area:
You'll note that it DOES meander and that it continues to have holdings south of the US border.
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