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Murals From a Great Canadian Train
In 1953, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) purchased 173 brand-new stainless steel rail cars from the Budd Company of Philadelphia. With the glass ceiling design in its Vista Dome cars, CPR could give passengers a breathtaking trip across Canada. Departing from Toronto and traveling 4,466km or 2,775 miles to Vancouver with multiple stops along the way, "The Canadian" became the quintessential cross-country train experience.
To highlight the natural beauty along the route and to promote tourism, CPR decided that Canada's national and provincial parks should be the inspiration for the interior design of "The Canadian" rail cars. In 1954 the Royal Canadian Academy was asked to coordinate the selection of leading Canadian artists to paint murals for each of the 18 Vista Dome cars.
The murals capture scenes from the following parks:
in British Columbia, Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, Mount Revelstoke National Park, Glacier National Park, Yoho National Park, Strathcona Provincial Park, Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, and Kootenay National Park;
In Alberta, Waterton Lakes National Park and Banff National Park;
in Saskatchewan, Prince Albert National Park;
in Manitoba, Riding Mountain National Park;
in Ontario, Algonquin Provincial Park and Sibley Provincial Park;
in Quebec, Mount Tremblant Provincial Park and Laurentide Provincial Park;
in New Brunswick, Fundy National Park and
in Nova Scotia, Evangeline Memorial Park.
Seventeen of the murals are now a part of the Canada Science and Technology Museum's artifact collection.
The Embassy of the Canada is delighted to showcase these murals and the everlasting beauty of Canada's national and provincial parks. |