Editing Sandford Fleming (section)

==Railway engineer==
His time at the Northern Railway was marked by conflict with the architect [[Frederick William Cumberland]], with whom he started the Canadian Institute and who was general manager of the railway until 1855. Starting as assistant engineer in 1852, Fleming replaced Cumberland in 1855 but was in turn ousted by him in 1862. In 1863 he became the chief government surveyor of Nova Scotia charged with the construction of a line from [[Truro, Nova Scotia|Truro]] to [[Pictou]]. When he would not accept the tenders from contractors that he considered too high, he was asked to bid for the work himself and completed the line by 1867 with both savings for the government and profit for himself.<ref>{{cite ODNB|id=33171|title=Fleming, Sandford|orig-year=2004|year=2005|last=Grant|first=W. L.}}</ref>

[[File:LastSpike Craigellachie BC Canada - cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Sandford Fleming (in tallest hat) at the ceremony of the "last spike" being driven on the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]]]]
In 1862 he placed before the government a plan for a transcontinental railway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.<ref>
{{citation|title=Suggestions on the Inter-colonial Railway|first=Sandford|last=Fleming|year=1862|isbn=9780665230196|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_23019|access-date=January 25, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421195100/https://archive.org/details/cihm_23019|archive-date=April 21, 2016|df=mdy-all}}
</ref> The first part, between [[Halifax (former city)|Halifax]] and [[Quebec]] became an important part of the preconditions for [[New Brunswick]] and Nova Scotia to [[Canadian Confederation#Joining Confederation|join the Canadian Federation]] because of the uncertainties of travel through [[Maine]] because of the [[American Civil War]]. In 1867 he was appointed engineer-in-chief of the [[Intercolonial Railway]] which became a federal project and he continued in this post until 1876. His insistence on building the bridges of iron and stone instead of wood was controversial at the time, but was soon vindicated by their resistance to fire.<ref name=dcbsf>
{{citation|url=http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=7370|title=FLEMING, Sir SANDFORD|first=Mario|last=Creet|publisher=Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130519043143/http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?id_nbr=7370|archive-date=May 19, 2013|df=mdy-all}}
</ref>

Between 1870 and 1875 Fleming supervised the building of several parts of the Intercolonial railway being built by Brown, Brooks & Ryan, a Toronto firm established by railway magnate [[Hugh Ryan (railway magnate)|Hugh Ryan]].<ref>Fleming, Sir Sandford (1876). [https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/chung/chungpub/items/1.0056575 "The Intercolonial Railway"]. ''The Chung Collection at The University of British Columbia''. Montreal, Quebec: Dawson Bros. p. 312.</ref> These sections were particularly costly due to the difficult terrain and included two bridges over the [[Miramichi River]] and six miles of approaches.<ref>{{cite book | title = Suggestions on the Inter-colonial railway and the construction of a highway and telegraph line between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans within the British territory: Respectfully submitted to the Government of Canada | last = Fleming | first = Sandford | publisher = W.C. Chewett & Co | year = 1862 | isbn = 978-0-665-23019-6 | url = https://archive.org/details/cihm_23019/page/n5/mode/2up }}</ref>

By 1871, the strategy of a railway connection was being used to bring [[British Columbia]] into federation and Fleming was offered the chief engineer post on the [[Canadian Pacific Survey]]. Although he hesitated because of the amount of work he had, in 1872 he set off with a small party to survey the route, particularly through the [[Rocky Mountains]], finding a practicable route through the [[Yellowhead Pass]]. One of his companions, [[George Monro Grant]] wrote an account of the trip, which became a best-seller.<ref>
{{citation|title=Ocean to Ocean|first=George Monro|last=Grant|year=1873|url=https://archive.org/details/cihm_29013|access-date=January 25, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311201447/https://archive.org/details/cihm_29013|archive-date=March 11, 2016|df=mdy-all|hdl=2027/loc.ark:/13960/t0tq7358g|hdl-access=free|publisher=Toronto : Belford|isbn=9780665290138}}
</ref> In June 1880, Fleming was dismissed by [[Sir Charles Tupper]], with a $30,000 payoff.<ref name=dcbsf/><ref name=dcbct>{{cite DCB |first=Phillip |last=Buckner |title=TUPPER, Sir CHARLES |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/tupper_charles_14E.html |volume=14 |access-date=September 17, 2015}}</ref> It was the hardest blow of Fleming's life, though he obtained a promise of monopoly, later revoked, on his next project, a trans-pacific telegraph cable.<ref name=dcbsf/> Nevertheless, in 1884 he became a director of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] and was present as the [[Last spike (Canadian Pacific Railway)|last spike]] was driven.