page_title: Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia
section_title: Great Depression
hierarchical_section_title: Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia / Since completion / Great Depression
caption_attribution_description: Composite image of Hotel Vancouver taken from 27th floor, Hyatt Regency
context_page_description: The Canadian Pacific Railway is a Canadian Class I railway that stretches from Montreal, Quebec, to Vancouver, British Columbia. The British Columbia portion of the railway was constructed between 1881 and 1885, fulfilling a promise extended to BC when it entered Confederation in 1871. For decades, it was the only practical means of long–distance passenger transport in Canada.
context_section_description: The Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 until 1939, hit many companies heavily. While the CPR was affected, it was not crippled to the extent of its rival CNR because it (unlike the CNR) was debt-free.  The CPR continued building the tunnel under Dunsmuir Street in Vancouver, joining its passenger station at Granville with the Drake Street yards and separating freight trains and streetcar lines. The CPR scaled back on some of its passenger and freight services, and stopped issuing dividends to its shareholders after 1932. One highlight of the 1930s (both for the railway and for Canada) was the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Canada in 1939—the first time that the reigning monarch had visited the country in a Royal Tour. The CPR and the CNR shared the honours of pulling the royal train across the country, with the CPR undertaking the westbound journey from Quebec City to Vancouver. The CPR put semi-streamlined engines (among them Royal Hudson engine 2850) to the task of pulling the royal train.
caption: Hotel Vancouver
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