Gravity, Steam and Steel: An Illustrated Railway History of Rogers Pass

by Graeme Pole

BC Historical Federation Writing Awards 2009 Honourable Mention

Canadian Rockies Award shortlist, 2009
 Steep grades, extreme climate, avalanche hazard, tunnels, trestles, and bridges-all in a wilderness setting-Rogers Pass packs a great deal of railway interest into 65 miles of track. Using 80 archival photographs, many previously unpublished, Gravity, Steam, and Steel: An Illustrated Railway History of Rogers Pass tells the stories of railway triumphs and tragedies on one of the most notorious sections of track in the world. For almost 125 years, CP Rail has battled the elements at Rogers Pass, spending hundreds of millions of dollars while creating solutions new to railroading.
 Gravity, Steam, and Steel was conceived and written as a companion volume to The Spiral Tunnels and the Big Hill, which has sold more than 25,000 copies since publication in 1996.
 Rogers Pass is a major focus in Glacier National Park (the park visitor centre is there) and the photographic material available from this area is incredibly diverse and interesting. There is no similar title on the market. Train buffs and locals will welcome this book. It will also be of interest the visiting public, many of whom want to broaden a casual interest in Canadian history.

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 8, 2009

Reviews

[Taveri · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book on CP rail's line between Field and Revelstoke BC, with over 120 amazing archival photos going back to 1884.  The best part is Graeme Pole's easy to read writing style.

The layout is full of nuggets of information such at details on locomotives, personalities, hiking trails, trusses, record snowfalls, avalanches, accidents and tunneling.  The "Runaway" segment detailing the November 26, 1977 incident (pages 114-115) read like a disaster movie with no hope of the train crew escaping alive...  Similarily other catrastrophes of September 6, 2015 and February 4, 2019 were presented in their own "boxes" to show rail safety is an ongoing issue.

I marvelled at the sections on the tunnels, especially the two underneath Rogers Pass: the Connaught Tunnel (built in 1916) and Macdonald Tunnel (1988) for Eastbound and Westbound traffic.  Nearly a hundred times i must driven over the Rogers Pass and didn't realize they were underneath.  I never wondered why I didn't see trains at the top of the pass.

[Amy Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Attractively layed out little book. Lots of photos and certainly everything you need to know the story of Rogers Pass, including a section at the back on how to find certain areas of interest and hiking trails to old foundations and such.

A good book,but Pierre Berton's tomes on the subject are far more in-depth and intriguing on a more emotional level.