Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: WHEN YOU SEE THIS SYMBOL YOU KNOW YOU'RE

WATCHING TELEVISION THAT'S EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL.

THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: I'M DYLAN DREYER, JOIN ME ONBOARD HISTORIC

STEAM ENGINE 2816 AS WE WITNESS THE CONSTRUCTION

OF THE LONGEST AND TOUGHEST RAILWAY ON EARTH.

DYLAN: WE ARE ON AN EPIC ADVENTURE OVER THOUSANDS

OF MILES AS BRAVE RAILROAD WORKERS CONNECT NORTH

AMERICA FROM EAST TO WEST.

WE'LL MEET THE FEARLESS CREWS THAT UNITED A NEW

NATION ACROSS A VAST, BREATHTAKING WILDERNESS.

WE'LL TRAVEL OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND RIGHT

THROUGH THEM ON A JOURNEY YOU'LL NEVER FORGET.

DYLAN: IN THE 1800'S STEAM ENGINES WERE

POWERING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION,

CONNECTING PEOPLE AND ECONOMIES ACROSS

CONTINENTS.

STEAM ENGINES TRAVELED ON VAST NETWORKS OF RAILROADS

THAT CROSSED MOUNTAINS, DESERTS,

RIVERS AND CANYONS.

TODAY WE'RE ON A JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY TO WATCH

ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT RAILROADS ON EARTH SNAKE

THROUGH THE VAST WILDERNESS OF NORTH

AMERICA.

DYLAN: THEY ONCE ROAMED THE EARTH BY THE

TENS OF THOUSANDS.

DYLAN: THEIR WHISTLES SPOKE OF DISTANCE PLACES,

ADVENTURE AND ROMANCE.

ALTHOUGH MANY HAVE BEEN ABANDONED,

A MIGHTY FEW STILL CHUG ALONG THE RAIL LINES OF

NORTH AMERICA REMINDING US OF AN AGE OF EXPLORATION

AND HUMAN PERSEVERANCE.

THEIR CREWS AND MAINTENANCE TEAMS CONSIDER

THEM LIVING THINGS.

SOME ARE CRANKY AND DIFFICULT,

OTHERS GOOD NATURED AND SPIRITED.

ENGINE 2816 HAS BEEN RESURRECTED BY THE

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY IN AN EXTRAORDINARY

ATTEMPT TO ILLUMINATE HISTORY ITSELF AND TO

SUMMON THE SPIRITS OF THE PAST.

♪ MUSIC ♪ - [TRAIN NOISES]

DYLAN: IN THE MID 1800'S THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

BEGAN AN AMBITIOUS RAILWAY PROJECT ACROSS THE VAST

MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS OF WESTERN NORTH AMERICA.

FOR YEARS TEAMS OF SURVEYORS AND ENGINEERS

SEARCHED FOR THE IDEAL ROUTE.

THEY PASSED THROUGH LANDSCAPES THE LIKES OF

NOTHING ELSE ON EARTH.

THEY FOLLOWED COUNTLESS RIVERS AND PROMISING

PASSAGES THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS,

MANY THAT ENDED NOWHERE.

THE BRAVE MEN WHO FIRST CARVED RAIL LINES ACROSS

THE CONTINENT WERE EXPLORERS,

ENGINEERS, SURVEYORS AND GUIDES.

THEY TRAVELED BY BOAT AND FOOT,

PACKHORSE AND RAFT.

THEY WORKED THROUGH ALL WEATHER,

SEASONS AND CONDITIONS.

SOME WERE AMBUSHED BY SNOWSTORMS.

THEY STRUGGLED TO SURVIVE WINTERS THAT COULD LAST

MORE THAN 6 MONTHS.

DYLAN: THE PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA HAD

JOINED CANADA ON A CONDITION THAT IT WOULD BE

CONNECTED TO THE EAST BY A TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FINALLY BEGAN CONSTRUCTION

BESIDE A SMALL CHURCH ON THE EDGE OF THE FRASIER

RIVER IN THE SPRING OF 1881.

[TRAIN WHISTLE]

DYLAN: DEPARTING FROM VANCOUVER,

WHAT LIES AHEAD IS ONE OF THE LONGEST,

TOUGHEST RAILWAYS ON EARTH;

AN EXTRAORDINARY 3,000 MILE JOURNEY FOR

LOCOMOTIVE 2816.

♪ MUSIC ♪ - [TRAIN NOISES]

DYLAN: THE FIRST FEW MILES ALONG HE FRASIER

RIVER FLOODPLAIN WERE EASY GOING FOR THE BUILDERS;

AT LEAST UNTIL THE LINE TURNED NORTH INTO THE JAWS

OF THE FRASIER CANYON.

HARD GRANITE WALLS TOWERING 3,000 FEET

ABOVE THE RIVER BROUGHT CONSTRUCTION TO A

PAINFUL CRAWL THAT WOULD LAST MORE THAN 6 YEARS.

DYLAN: 10,000 MEN WORKED THE FRASIER CANYON IN

THE EARLY 1880'S.

6,500 WERE CHINESE IMMIGRANTS.

THEY BLASTED NIGHT AND DAY,

DRILLING TUNNELS INTO THE GRANITE ROCK,

CARVING ROAD BEDS ON THE SIDES OF VERTICAL CLIFFS.

WORKING WITH HAND TOOLS AND BLACK POWDER,

THEY AVERAGED BARELY 5 FEET A DAY.

WE CAN ONLY GLIMPSE THE COURAGE OF THESE MEN AND

THE EXTRAORDINARY WORK THEY LEFT BEHIND.

DYLAN: BY 1882 CONSTRUCTION MOVED OUT OF THE FRASIER

CANYON AND EAST ALONG THE THOMPSON RIVER AS THE

RAILWAY CLIMBED INLAND UP TO THE CENTRAL PLATEAU OF

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

HERE THE LAND BECOMES ARID AND THE HARD ROCK GIVES

WAY TO SOFTER SANDSTONE.

TORRENTIAL RAINS ERODE AND SCULPT SANDSTONE CLIFFS

INTO TALL, ROCKY TOWERS THAT CAN COLLAPSE INTO

MUDSLIDES AND BURY THE LINE.

IT MADE FOR EASIER CONSTRUCTION BUT THIS

BARREN DESERT ABSORBS LITTLE WATER.

DYLAN: HERE ENGINEERS AND TRACK LAYERS ENCOUNTERED

A NEW SET OF OBSTACLES THAT COULD NOT BE

FILLED OR BRIDGES OR TUNNELED THROUGH.

WHEN CONSTRUCTION CREWS ARRIVED AT THESE LAKES

THEY FULLY INTENDED TO BRIDGE THEM AND CONTINUE,

BUT WHEN THEY DROPPED WEIGHTS ATTACHED TO 400

FEET OF ROPE THEY NEVER REACHED THE BOTTOM.

THE LAKES WOULD BE SIMPLY TOO DEEP TO CROSS.

TRAINS WOULD HAVE TO TAKE THE LONG WAY AROUND.

DYLAN: AS MILE AFTER MILE OF TRACK WAS LAID THE

CANADIAN WILDERNESS WOULD CHALLENGE THE BRAVE CREWS

TIME AND TIME AGAIN.

TODAY THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY OPERATES 12,500

MILES OF TRACK; ENOUGH TO CIRCLE HALFWAY AROUND

THE EARTH.

BUT THEY HAD TO FIGHT HARD FOR EVERY MILE.

DYLAN: COMING UP NEXT, THE RAIL LINE CREWS COME TO

THEIR HARDEST CHALLENGE OF ALL; A REMOTE MOUNTAIN RANGE

WHERE BRUTAL WINTER STORMS PILE SNOW MORE THAN 60

FEET HIGH.

AND LATER, A MASSIVE ROCKSLIDE BURIES A

DANGEROUS STRETCH OF TRACK AND AN ONCOMING PASSENGER

TRAIN IS HEADING TOWARD A COLLISION.

DON'T GO AWAY, JOURNEY WILL BE RIGHT BACK.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: WELCOME BACK TO JOURNEY,

I'M DYLAN DREYER.

THE MAN IN CHARGE OF BUILDING A

TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD ACROSS THE CANADIAN

WILDERNESS WAS AN AMERICAN;

WILLIAM CORNELIUS VAN HORNE.

BORN ON A DIRT FARM IN ILLINOIS IN 1843,

WILLIAM WORKED ON RAILROADS SINCE HE WAS 14

YEARS OLD.

BUT ALL OF HIS YEARS OF EXPERIENCE COULDN'T

PREPARE HIM FOR THE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TASK THAT LAY

AHEAD.

DYLAN: GENERAL MANAGER VAN HORNE WAS AN

AMATEUR GEOLOGIST, A TALENTED ARTIST,

AND AN ACCOMPLISHED VIOLINIST.

HE WAS WELL-LIKED BY HIS MEN.

WHERE THE GROUND WAS FLAT AND THE GRADES EASY,

VAN HORNE PUSHED HARD TO MAKE UP FOR TIME AND MONEY

LOST IN THE CANYONS AND MOUNTAINS.

HE EMPLOYED CANADIANS, AMERICANS AND IMMIGRANTS

FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

THE MEN FROZE IN BITTER COLD AND TOILED IN FIERCE

SUMMER HEAT.

YET WITH BARE HANDS THEY LAID AS MANY AS 6 MILES OF

TRACK EVERY DAY.

IN 1882 NEARLY 500 MILES OF TRACK WERE LAID IN A

SINGLE SEASON; A WORLD RECORD AND A SOURCE OF

ENORMOUS PRIDE FOR THE TRACK CREWS.

♪ GUITAR MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: VAN HORNE, THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILROAD

AND THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT WERE ANXIOUS TO

KEEP POWERFUL AMERICAN RAILROADS FROM MOVING IN

TO SOUTHERN CANADA.

THERE WERE TWO ROUTES THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS

BEING CONSIDERED; A NORTHERN ROUTE RECOMMENDED

BY THE SURVEYORS; AND A SOUTHERN ROUTE CONSIDERED

MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAT LED RIGHT THROUGH THE VAST

SELKIRK MOUNTAINS.

A FATEFUL, PERHAPS RECKLESS DECISION WAS MADE

BY THE RAILWAY AND GOVERNMENT TO GAMBLE ON

THIS SOUTHERN ROUTE WHERE NO PASSES WERE YET KNOWN

TO EXIST.

DYLAN: AN AMERICAN SURVEYOR BY THE NAME OF A.B. ROGERS

HAD CONVINCED MANY INCLUDING VAN HORNE THAT

HE COULD FIND A SOUTHERN PASS THROUGH THE SELKIRKS.

DYLAN: THE FUTURE OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC WAS NOW IN

THE HANDS OF TWO AMERICANS; VAN HORNE AND ROGERS.

DYLAN: ROGERS AND HIS GUIDES ONLY TRAVELED IN

THE SPRING AND SUMMER MONTHS UP THE WESTERN

FACE OF THE SELKIRKS.

OMINOUSLY, ROGERS AND HIS CREW FOUND NO EVIDENCE

THAT HUMAN BEINGS OF ANY KIND HAD EVER VENTURED

AMONGST THESE ALMOST VERTICAL SLOPES.

IN THE SUMMER OF 1882 ROGERS DECLARED HE HAD

DISCOVERED A VIABLE RAILROAD PASS THROUGH THE

SELKIRKS, BUT HE DID NOT FULLY APPRECIATE THE

NATURE OF THE BEAST THAT WOULD COME TO BEAR HIS

NAME.

WHEN VAN HORNE'S CREW ARRIVED THE FOLLOWING

SEASON AT THE FOOT OF THE SELKIRKS THEY WERE

APPALLED BY WHAT ROGERS HAD DECLARED A PASS.

THE MEN WOULD HAVE TO BUILD MASSIVE BRIDGE

FRAMES CALLED TRESTLES IN ORDER TO CLIMB UP THE

MOUNTAIN FACE.

THE TRESTLES WERE FRAIL.

THEY COLLAPSED, CAUGHT FIRE IN THE SUMMER AND

FELL FROM AVALANCHES IN THE WINTER.

THEY WERE REPLACED WITH STONE PILLARS BUT

EVENTUALLY THOSE TOO WERE ABANDONED.

WHILE BUILDING THE LINE THROUGH THE SELKIRK

MOUNTAINS THE CHIEF ENGINEER ONCE WROTE A

SIMPLE LETTER TO VAN HORNE.

"THERE HAS BEEN A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT.

MANY MEN DIED.

THE REST ARE AFRAID."

DYLAN: LETTERS LIKE THIS WERE BECOMING ROUTINE.

IT SEEMED THE SELKIRK MOUNTAINS WOULD THREATEN

THE VERY SURVIVAL OF THE ENTIRE RAILWAY AND THE

ROCKY MOUNTAINS STILL LAY AHEAD.

DYLAN: COMING UP NEXT, AN INGENIOUS DESIGN TUNNEL

HELPED SAVE STEAM ENGINES FROM DISASTER AND A NEW

DAWN OF NATIONAL PARK CONSERVATION FOLLOWS THE

RAILROAD ACROSS THE CANADIAN WILDERNESS.

JOURNEY WILL CONTINUE RIGHT AFTER THIS.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: WHEN THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT BEGAN BUILDING

THEIR GREAT TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILWAY

CONNECTING THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS,

HUGE SECTIONS OF THE CANADIAN WILDERNESS HAD

NEVER BEEN EXPLORED.

THE LONELY ROUTE ACROSS NORTH AMERICA TRAVELED

THROUGH EXTREME AND REMOTE LANDSCAPES AND LARGE

SECTIONS OF TRACK OFTEN NEEDED REPLACING ONLY A

FEW YEARS AFTER THEY WERE BUILT.

♪ MUSIC ♪ - [TRAIN NOISES]

DYLAN: AT THE EASTERN FOOT OF THE SELKIRKS THE

GREAT STEAM TRAINS OFTEN PAUSED FOR SERVICE AT THE

RAILWAY TOWN OF GOLDEN.

DYLAN: THE INHABITANTS OF OLD RAILROAD TOWNS LIVED

TO SERVE THE APPETITES OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE

AND THE MEN WHO WORKED THEM.

IN THOSE DAYS THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER WAS A

FOLK HERO.

DYLAN: THERE ARE TWO POSSIBLE ROUTES THROUGH

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS; THE SHORTER MAINLINE,

AND AN ALTERNATE TRACK SOUTH ALONG THE COLUMBIA

RIVER THROUGH A PASS CALLED THE CROW'S NEST.

DYLAN: THE SOUTHERN TRACK WAS LONGER BUT IT WAS

SUPPOSED TO BE EASIER.

UNTIL THE ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE OCCURRED IN

APRIL 1903.

DYLAN: AT 4:30 A.M. NEAR THE MINING TOWN OF FRANK,

ALBERTA, THE TOWERING CLIFFS OF TURTLE MOUNTAIN

COLLAPSED DESTROYING THE TOWN AND THE RAILROAD.

DYLAN: A MAN NAMED SID CHOCET SURVIVED AND MADE

HIS WAY IN TOTAL BLACKNESS ACROSS NEW FALLEN ROCKS IN

A FRANTIC ATTEMPT TO STOP THE ONCOMING EXPRESS

TRAINS DUE TO ARRIVE THAT MORNING.

WITHOUT WARNING SID KNEW THE COMING TRAINS WOULD

SLAM INTO THE ROCKS.

AT THE LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT HE STOPPED A

PASSENGER TRAIN NAMED THE SPOKANE FLYER,

SAVING THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS OF PASSENGERS.

HE RECEIVED AN AWARD FROM THE RAILROAD OF $25

DOLLARS.

DYLAN: WHEN CONSTRUCTION CREWS ARRIVED AT THE

CROW'S NEST THE RAIL LINES BECAME SO STEEP SPECIAL

STEAM ENGINES WERE DESIGNED TO PULL TRAINS

OVER THE ROCKIES.

BUT MANY JUMPED THE TRACKS.

DYLAN: AND OTHERS BLEW THEMSELVES TO PIECES.

DYLAN: 20 YEARS AFTER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN PASS WAS

OPEN ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ENGINEERING

PROJECTS IN THE HISTORY OF RAILROADING BEGAN;

THE SPIRAL TUNNELS.

THE TUNNELS GIVE THE LINE ADDITIONAL DISTANCE TO

CLIMB THE STEEP WESTERN FACE OF THE ROCKY

MOUNTAINS.

THROUGH BOTH AN UPPER AND LOWER TUNNEL LONG FREIGHT

TRAINS CROSS OVER THEMSELVES BY LOOPING

AROUND INSIDE THE MOUNTAIN.

THE LAST SPIKE OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY

WAS DRIVEN IN THE FALL OF 1885;

AN EXTRAORDINARY ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR THE NEW

COUNTRY OF CANADA.

DYLAN: BUT SOON AFTER TRAINS BEGAN RUNNING FROM SEA TO

SEA IT WAS APPARENT THE RAILWAY HAD PROFOUNDLY

MISCALCULATED ONE SIGNIFICANT DETAIL;

WINTER.

DYLAN: COMING UP NEXT, HEAVY SNOWS THREATEN

THE SUCCESS OF THE NEW RAILROAD.

BUT HOPE ARRIVES IN WAYS NO ONE EXPECTED.

DON'T GO AWAY, JOURNEY WILL BE RIGHT BACK.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: MUCH OF THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY

WAS BUILT DURING SUMMER MONTHS WHEN CONDITIONS

WERE MOST FAVORABLE.

BUT AS WINTER RETURNED A HARSH REALITY SET IN.

THE MOST REMOTE STRETCHES OF TRACK WERE NEARLY

IMPOSSIBLE TO MAINTAIN.

DYLAN: NO ONE WAS EVERY KNOWN TO HAVE VENTURED

INTO ROGERS' PASS IN THE WINTER AND FOR GOOD REASON;

IT HAD AMONG THE DEEPEST KNOWN SNOWFALLS IN THE

WORLD; AS MUCH AS 60 FEET IN A SINGLE SEASON.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: THE NEW RAILWAY AND THE COUNTRY ITSELF

HUNG BY THE THINNEST OF THREADS.

THE MOUNTAIN SECTIONS WERE RUINOUSLY EXPENSIVE TO

OPERATE AND THE COMPANY TEETERED ON BANKRUPTCY.

DYLAN: IT WOULD TAKE A MIRACLE TO SAVE THE

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY, AND A MIRACLE DID OCCUR.

JUST OVER THE TOP OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE ON THE

EAST FACE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS WAS A PLACE THE

SURVEYORS CALLED THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ON EARTH.

THEY NAMED IT BANFF.

THE DISCOVERY OF BANFF AND ITS AWE-INSPIRING BEAUTY

MOVED CANADIANS TO ESTABLISH ITS FIRST

NATIONAL PARK IN 1885.

BANFF WAS SOON EXPANDED TO INCLUDE LAKE LOUISE,

THEN JOINED BY JASPER NATIONAL PARK - THE

LARGEST NATIONAL PARK IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

THEN CAME GLACIER NATIONAL PARK AND THEN YOHO.

NEWS OF CANADA'S AWESOME WILDERNESS SPREAD AROUND

THE GLOBE AND THE RAIL COMPANIES SUDDENLY HAD A

THRIVING NEW BUSINESS; TOURISM.

WILLIAM VAN HORNE BUILT A SERIES OF GREAT HOTELS

INCLUDING THE MOST FAMOUS AT LAKE LOUISE.

FOLLOWED BY A FLEET OF LEGENDARY PASSENGER TRAINS

TO BRING IN THE TOURISTS.

AS THE RAILWAY GREW AND PROSPERED THE COUNTRY

FOLLOWED.

VAN HORNE'S RAILWAY GREW INTO A VAST NETWORK.

DYLAN: THE BRAVE MEN WHO BUILT THE CANADIAN PACIFIC

RAILWAY WERE YOUNG AND STRONG AND LAID DOWN EVERY

MILE WITH THEIR BARE HANDS.

MANY OF THEIR NAMES ARE LOST TO HISTORY BUT THEY

LIVE ON WITH THE IMPOSSIBLE RAILROAD THEY

CARVED THROUGH THE WILDERNESS AND THE

EXTRAORDINARY COUNTRY OF CANADA THEY CREATED IN THE

PROCESS.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED OUR JOURNEY ONBOARD STEAM

ENGINE 2816.

UNTIL NEXT TIME, SAFE TRAVELS.

♪ MUSIC ♪