Rogers Pass is a high mountain pass through the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, but the term also includes the approaches used by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and the Trans-Canada Highway. In the heart of Glacier National Park, this National Historic Site has been a tourist destination since 1886.
Topography Rogers Pass is the lowest route between the Sir Donald and Hermit ranges of the Selkirks, providing a shortcut along the southern perimeter of the Big Bend of the Columbia River from Revelstoke on the west to Donald, near Golden, on the east.
The pass is formed by the headwaters of the Illecillewaet River to the west and by the Beaver River to the east. These rivers are tributaries of the Columbia, which arcs to the north.
Railway Proposal & planning During the 1870s, when the transcontinental was being planned, the preferred route through the Canadian Rockies was the northerly Yellowhead Pass. After awarding the contract, the government allowed CP to amend the designated crossing to the Kicking Horse Pass. Although believing the change advantageous, hindsight indicates the Yellowhead and CP's 1898 Crowsnest Pass would have provided a more economical and strategic combination. Poor judgement best describes this unfortunate decision that created lasting impediments for both the railway and highway.
Discovery of the pass
While the transcontinental advanced across the prairies, the railway sought a way over the unexplored Selkirks. In April 1881, CP offered Major A.B. Rogers naming rights and a $5,000 bonus to locate a pass. Walter Moberly had discovered Eagle Pass just to the west, and based on suggestions in Moberly's reports, Rogers started out from what is now Revelstoke, up the Illecillewaet River. On May 28, 1881, the party followed a branch of the river past "Syndicate Peak" (now Mount Sir Donald), discovering a large level opening between the mountains where the waters flowed east and west. (Some secondary sources state that Rogers only saw the pass from a distance, but this is contradicted by first-hand reports.) To get a better view of the landscape, Rogers, his nephew A.L. Rogers and some of their Shuswap guides then climbed to the crest of a nearby mountain ridge, later identified as the ridge between Mount Macdonald and Avalanche Mountain. From here they could see the Beaver River valley on the east side of the Selkirks. Running out of food, the party turned back west. Although they had found a pass, they had been unable to explore its eastern approach, a distance of from the junction of the Beaver and Columbia rivers. Returning in 1882 from the east, Rogers followed the Beaver River and Connaught Creek (formerly Bear Creek), and on July 24, 1882, he reached the same pass, confirming its existence and the feasibility of a railway route. Rogers refused to cash the $5,000 cheque, and instead framed it upon his wall until CP General Manager William Cornelius Van Horne offered him a gold watch as an incentive to cash it. Folklore has generated many later variations of this story.
The discovery was due in part to the efforts of Moberly, his assistant Albert Perry and their First Nations guides, who had explored the Illecillewaet River on the west side of the pass fifteen year earlier. In later life Moberly stated that Perry reached the pass in 1866, but there is no contemporaneous evidence for this.
Planning and construction Rogers blindly believed the pass presented no special engineering difficulties. By May 1883, the westward railhead had only reached Medicine Hat, still leaving time to find an alternative to the equally problematic Kicking Horse Pass. Moberly advocated Howse Pass. During the time it took to determine a practicable Kicking Horse/Selkirks route, the railhead had advanced up the Bow Valley making it too late to use Howse, which required an access from the North Saskatchewan River Valley.
Since the immediate capital costs for the Selkirks and Big Bend options were similar, the additional operating costs expected from the increased mileage eliminated the latter. As a general rule, if the interest payable on a capital investment was less than the expected savings on operating costs, CP made the investment. Decisions were a trade-off between immediate costs and delayed costs. Later traffic revenue enabled upgrades.
The acute capital shortage during 1885 meant months of unpaid payroll, and minor strikes. Captain Sam Steele and his small North-West Mounted Police force protected construction manager James Ross from confrontations with workers. When the North-West Rebellion drew Steele away, Ross formed his own 25-man armed police force. To survive the capital crisis, infrastructure costs were reduced to a bare minimum. Not only did untreated wooden trestles provide all bridging, but cuttings were of minimum width, track was not ballasted, and no snow sheds were built. Ballasting occurred only three years later. Although accurately predicting construction costs was difficult, especially in a mountainous region, total overruns were reasonable.
The eastern approach up the Beaver River required some of the largest trestles on the line.
In early February 1885, three avalanches struck. At MacKenzie camp, west of the summit, a worker was buried. At McDermot camp, away, three buried men were never found. At the summit, three occupants escaped through a camp store window. Later that month avalanches totally destroyed the store, and buried six men in the vicinity. These slides, followed by heavy summer rainfall, delayed the work. Abandoning the damaged right-of-way on the western slope, north of the river, CP built the switchback loops well clear of avalanche paths.
The railhead crossed the summit that August. After the last spike ceremony that November, the line was shut down for the winter. After slide damages were repaired, the line opened to through traffic the following June.
Route (Elevation in ft)
Only the crest and eastern slope of the Connaught Tunnel route is underground. Pre-1916 Miles Post-1916Miles 1891 1898 1899 1907 19101910 Timetable. p. 10. 1916 Comments 102.6 98.2 Illecillewaet 2,499 2,499 2,497.9 2,497 2,490.7 1,075 99.9 Laurie 2,495.0 97.7 93.2 Flat Creek Appears in 1922? timetable. Not a listed stop Forming part of the Loops, on the lowest crossing of Loop Creek (south of the Illecillewaet River and north of today's highway) a deck plate girder resting on concrete abutments replaced the wooden trestle in 1906. Toronto Foundry Co. installed ironwork on one or more of the Loops crossings at this time. 94.1 89.7 Ross Peak/Ross Peak Siding Not to be confused with much later MacDonald tunnel station. 2,490 2,490 2,489.0 2,489 2,482.2 1,067Part of the Loops, the wooden trestles over the Illecillewaet River were replaced. On the lower crossing, stone piers supported the deck plate girders installed in 1898 and 1906. On the upper crossing, concrete abutments supported the deck plate girders installed in 1906. 91.2 Loop Spur 2,486.5 90.4 Cambie North end of the lower trestle per photo. Not a listed stop Part of the Loops, the wooden trestles across Loop Creek (south of today's road) were replaced. Stone pillars, erected within the framework of the lower trestle, supported the deck plate girders installed in 1904 and 1906. The same replacement process occurred on the upper trestle in 1906. 87.2 Glacier House Glacier Not to be confused with later station near west portal. 2,483 2,483 2,482.5 2,482 2475.3 1,060 84.9 Rogers Pass (first) Initially called Summit (near the Memorial monument), then Rogers Pass. Not a listed stop 84.0 Rogers Pass (84.2 third) & (84.0 fourth) Immediately north of the Discovery Centre. Small moveafter 1910 avalanche. 2,479 2,472.1 1,056 83.0 Rogers Pass (second) About west of the nearest highwayshowshed on the eastern slope. Moved one mile westafter 1899 avalanche. 2,479 2,479 80.0 Hermit Flag stop. Not a listed stop 77.9 Bear Creek 2,474 2,474 2,473.2 2,473 2,466.0 1,050 77.1 77.1 Stoney Creek Not a listed stopTwo construction workers died on the Stoney Creek trestle at Mile 76.7. In 1894, the Hamilton Bridge Co. replaced the record high trestle with the often-photographed Stoney Creek Bridge, which was strengthened in 1905. 74.7 74.7 Surprise CreekCutbank 2,470.0 Not a listed stop 73.5 73.4 Cedar Creek Cedar Sturdee 2,470 2,468.9 2,461.6 1,046Mountain Creek bridge at Mile 71.3 contained the most lumber at over two million board feet. During 1897–1902, fills and a long bridge replaced the long trestle. Strengthened in 1929, the bridge was replaced in 1978. 70.4 70.4 Griffith Not a listed stop 67.8 Six-Mile Creek Anzac Later called Rogers. 2,465 2,465 2,463.9 2,462 2,455.9 1,040
Early operation
CP's traffic predictions proved largely correct. Contrary claims that early traffic would be mainly eastbound were unfounded, but became a reality within 20 years. Two pusher locomotives, each needing crews, were adequate for each side. However, pusher gradients were expensive to operate. Most loaded freight trains required a single pusher, because they were longer than 9 cars. Wyes were at the Selkirk pushing extremities of Beavermouth (east) and Albert Canyon (west). At the summit, a roundhouse and rail yard existed. Some days no freight trains passed, but on the arrival of a steamer in Vancouver, there could be a quick succession eastward for several days. Double heading replaced rear pushing from 1907. Local traffic was negligible.
Usually, passenger trains did not need pushers, and until 1902, the 5– to 9–car service was daily. On rare occasions, trains were as long as 12 cars. The 1886 average mountain speed of had increased to by 1902. By 1913, to maintain this speed, the 9-car trains required a pusher. Scheduled stops for breakfast, lunch, and dinner existed at Field, Glacier House, and North Bend. Albert Canyon was a scenic stop. The twice daily summer service from 1908 continued into the winter, instead of reducing to one train, and increased to three trains the following summer.
In 1905, CP installed a water-powered bucket system to fill the coal hopper. The next year, the four-locomotive engine house was enlarged to accommodate six locomotives. In 1907, a track deviation created more yard space to handle increased freight. Housing key staff and extensive equipment, the pass functioned as if it were a divisional point. Assigning the most powerful locomotives, the Selkirk section had 12 in 1898 and 18 in 1908. Pushers increased from 5 in 1908 to 11 in 1914. Oil storage facilities were built for the 1912 conversion to oil-fired locomotives in the mountains, eliminating firemen and fire patrols. Additionally, the constant steam pressure increased the tonnage capacity.
In 1915, seven employees received 25-month sentences for creating ghost employees.
One year after the tunnel opening, the right-of-way over the pass was handed over to the Parks Department for a wagon road, and the snow sheds were removed. Some sections of the abandoned railway eventually became walking rail trails in Glacier National Park.
Avalanches
The extent and cost of snow sheds had been grossly underestimated. Snow shed construction continued until 1890, but only in places displaying consistent problems, and only where diversions were not a cheaper option. Sheds were patrolled in winter for avalanche damage, and in summer for fires started by smokestacks. An increased section gang shovelled out both slides and drifts. Wing plows could not disperse the really deep snow. A rotary snowplow was shared with Eagle Pass until a dedicated one arrived in February 1890. However, rotaries cannot handle avalanches containing rocks or timber. These combined measures ensured that blockages from 1889/90 onward were nearly always cleared within hours.