page_title: D'Alton Corry Coleman
section_title: Early years in Western Canada
hierarchical_section_title: D'Alton Corry Coleman / Canadian Pacific Railway career / Early years in Western Canada
caption_attribution_description: English: "C.P.R. tracks looking east. Wpg." Railways cars and tracks in Winnipeg, Manitoba, taken in 1907.
context_page_description: D'Alton Corry Coleman was a Canadian railway executive and businessman. He began working for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1899, and was promoted through its ranks until serving as president from 1942 to 1947. He oversaw expansion which added 3,620 kilometres of branch lines in the Canadian Prairies, and guided Western Canada railways through the Great Depression. He developed the CPR to support logistics during World War II, including manufacture of munitions, expanded shipbuilding and of one the country's first private blood donation clinics. Canadian Pacific Air Lines was established under his leadership, and he became chairman of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, Canadian Pacific Hotels and other subsidiaries. He maintained good relations between the CPR and its unionized workers and believed in promoting from within the company.
  Coleman developed a love for reading history at a young age, became city editor of The Belleville Intelligencer by age 18, and kept a large personal library on Canadiana.
context_section_description: Coleman began working for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) on November 4, 1899, as an assistant engineer's clerk in Fort William. From 1899 to 1907, he moved around as a clerk and accountant based in Winnipeg, then Cranbrook and North Bay. He became the superintendent of the Kootenay Division based in Nelson in 1907, then superintendent of railcar service in Vancouver then Winnipeg in 1908. He was promoted to general superintendent in Winnipeg in 1912, then held the same position in Calgary in 1913, and return to Winnipeg in 1915 as the assistant general manager.
  In October 1918, Coleman was appointed the vice-president of Western Lines. Then CPR president Lord Shaughnessy predicted that Coleman would one day become president of the company. Coleman was in charge of all CPR trackage from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean and oversaw expansion which added 3,620 kilometres (2,250 mi) of branch lines in the Canadian Prairies. He guided the Western Lines through the Great Depression making adjustments to services due to declining revenues.
caption: Canadian Pacific Railway yard in Winnipeg c. 1907
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