Canadian National Railways wasn’t even 30 years old in 1947. However, its earliest predecessor, the Montreal and Lachine Rail Road, made its inaugural trip in 1847, giving CN the excuse for publishing this booklet.

Click image to download a 5.0-MB PDF of this 16-page booklet. Click here to download a PDF of the full front-and-back cover of this booklet.

This is less a history book than a book about the changes in technology between 1847 and 1947. In 1847, the Montreal and Lachine may have been using the latest in technology with a 4-2-2 locomotive (only a few of which were built before 1850) and wooden carriages that were slightly advanced beyond the stagecoaches-on-rails that characterized the first steam railways. The same could not be said for Canadian National in 1947, which was still using steam instead of Diesels and semi-streamlined but heavyweight passenger cars instead of lightweight streamlined cars.

The cover painting is by A. (for Adam) Sherriff Scott (1887-1980). Scott (some web sites hyphenate “Sherriff-Scott” but I’m pretty sure that’s a mistake) was born in Perth and studied at the Edinburgh School of Art. He moved to Canada in 1912 and after spending a few years in Manitoba and Alberta he settled in Montreal. His paintings of Inuits became particularly well known. Among other things he also painted murals, landscapes, portraits, and posters, including this one for Canadian Pacific.