The importance of trains and railways all over the planet is reflected in the number of sites dedicated to this subject. Whether you're completing a school project or reading for the pleasure of learning more about the exciting world of railways, here is a list of links for selected web sites in English and French.
Canadian web sites
All selected sites are bilingual, unless otherwise specified.
Forging the National Dream
This page is centred around the remarkable photography collection of the McCord Museum in Montréal. Author William R. Morrison, from the University of Northern British Columbia, describes the first milestones in the history of trains in Canada. His text is accompanied by historical photographs, links, and a bibliography.
The Kids' Site of Canadian Trains
A site for the entire family! Find out about the first milestones in railway history through anecdotes, illustrations, and historical photographs. This page is part of a larger web site by Library and Archives Canada, where you will be able to find many other pages on Canadian railway history.
Railway Association of Canada
Located in Ottawa, the Railway Association of Canada (RAC) represents 58 member freight, tourist, commuter, and intercity Canadian railways. A good source of information for those seeking more precise information about the industry.
VIA Rail is born - "On this day" - CBC Archives
On February 28, 1977, Transport Canada Minister Otto Lang announced the creation of VIA Rail, a Crown Corporation to provide rail services to travellers in Canada. On the CBC Archives web page, you can listen to the news story they produced for public radio, as well as read a fact sheet.
Rails Canada - All Canadian Railroad Search Engine and Directory
A list of links and nothing else! But there are a great many links and all of them lead to web sites about trains in Canada. In fact, this directory lists hundreds of web sites arranged by category.
Montréal Clic no.8: Le chemin de fer (Centre d'histoire)
This web page, featuring photos and many links, is a historical recap produced by Montréal Clic, the Centre d'histoire de Montréal's French-language newsletter. It retells the challenges of building the Canadian railway, the traces of which are still visible in Montréal today. In French only.
Longueuil and the South Shore before the Jacques-Cartier Bridge
This page is taken from the historical atlas of the City of Longueuil. Filled with archive photographs, this web page dives into the heart of the 19th century, at a time when the train was instrumental in drawing the map of all North America. In French only.
The Grand Trunk Railway and The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
These two pages are fact sheets from a larger web site about Old Montréal. From each, you can read the company profile and history, including details of its founding. The well-documented text provides historical context, as well as sources and other practical information. In French only.
History of trackmen and railways in Canada... and the world
"I grew up in a village in Abitibi where three-quarters of the population worked as trackmen or were the children of trackmen." And so opens this book written by author Paule Doyon and reproduced in its entirety on her personal web site. This amply illustrated work is obviously the product of much research and is well worth the read. In French only.
En voiture! Trains in Canada, from the Radio-Canada Archives
Radio-Canada has opened its archives to give you access to a bank of audio-visual materials that retell the history of trains right up until today. Watch hours of video clips extracted from all kinds of programming, and browse well-documented texts with plenty of links. In French only.
Non-Canadian web sites
The Railway Pioneers
This web page was published by the Lycée André-Malraux in Gaillon, France to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the Paris-Rouen railway in 2004. The content is pleasant to read, providing context for the creation of the railways and archive illustrations.
First Railroads in North America
While reading this long text written by Frederick C. Gamst, from the University of Massachusetts in Boston, you will come to understand the important role the railway played in the history of North America. This page is part of a larger web site by the Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum.
The birth of the railway in France
France inaugurated its first public railway in 1824, shortly after England. This article (without illustrations) was first published in 1982 in La Vie du Rail magazine, and retraces the history of the railway in this country. In French only.
