The philosophy of railways : the transcontinental railway idea in British North America / A.A. den Otter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Otter, A. A. den (Andy Albert den), 1941- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Canadian Pacific Railway Company--History.

Canadian Pacific Railway Company.

Railroads--Canada--History.

Railroads.

Canada.

Genre:

Livres numeriques.

History.

e-books.

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (317 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Toronto, [Ontario] ; Buffalo, [New York] ; London, [England] : University of Toronto Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"When, in the late 1980s, the federal government initiated a plan to deregulate the Canadian railway system, lobby groups protested the betrayal of a national mandate. They asserted that the railway was founded to promote a sense of national identity, to provide access to isolated regions of the country, and to ensure a transnational exchange of goods and ideas. In The Philosophy of Railways, A.A. den Otter considers the relationship between nationalism and technology, and shows how the popular rhetoric surrounding the evolution of the Canadian Pacific Railway has mythologized the role of a private corporation and its technology. He questions the notion that the railways were built as an antidote to American manifest destiny, suggesting instead that the widespread adoption of railway transportation as a civilizing mission impelled Canadians to bow to technology's integrating effects, including confederation and closer ties with the United States."--Jacket.

Contents:

1. Technological Nationalism: The Backdrop

2. The Guarantee Act: Signpost for an Era

3. Nova Scotia: Railways and the New Economy

4. The Grand Trunk Railway: The New Imperialism

5. Saint John: Fulcrum Metropol

6. The Pacific Scandal: Nationalism and Business

7. The National Policy: Defining a Nation

8. The Philosophy of Railways: Conclusions and Conjectures.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-282-02558-9

9786612025587

1-4426-7846-1

OCLC:

288096896