Editing Transcontinental railroad (section)

===Canada===
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[[Image:LastSpike Craigellachie BC Canada.jpg|thumb|[[Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal|Donald Smith]] driving the [[Last Spike (Canadian Pacific Railway)|Last Spike]] of [[Canada]]'s first transcontinental railway, the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]], in 1885]]

The completion of Canada's first transcontinental railway with the driving of the [[Last Spike (Canadian Pacific Railway)|Last Spike]] at [[Craigellachie, British Columbia]], on November 7, 1885, was an important milestone in [[History of Canada|Canadian history]]. Between 1881 and 1885, the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] (CPR) completed a line that spanned from the port of Montreal to the Pacific coast, fulfilling a condition of [[British Columbia]]'s 1871 entry into the [[Canadian Confederation]]. The City of [[Vancouver]], incorporated in 1886, was designated the western terminus of the line. The CPR became the first transcontinental railway company in North America in 1889 after its [[International Railway of Maine]] opened, connecting CPR to the Atlantic coast.

The construction of a transcontinental railway strengthened the connection of British Columbia and the [[North-West Territories]] to the country they had recently joined, and acted as a bulwark against potential incursions by the United States.

Subsequently, two other transcontinental lines were built in Canada: the [[Canadian Northern Railway]] (CNoR) opened another line to the Pacific in 1915, and the combined [[Grand Trunk Pacific Railway]] (GTPR)/[[National Transcontinental Railway]] (NTR) system opened in 1917 following the completion of the [[Quebec Bridge]], although its line to the Pacific opened in 1914. The CNoR, GTPR, and NTR were [[nationalized]] to form the [[Canadian National Railway]], which currently is now Canada's largest transcontinental railway, with lines running all the way from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast.