The Canadian Railroad Trilogy

This lavishly illustrated book brings Gordon Lightfoot’s heart-stirring song, “Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” to readers young and old. The song was commissioned by the CBC in 1967 to mark Canada’s centennial year and it has been a classic ever since. It eloquently describes the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway — “an iron road runnin’ from the sea to the sea” — a great feat of nation building that changed Canada forever for good and for ill, as in the process many people died and were dispossessed of their land.

Highly acclaimed, award-winning illustrator Ian Wallace brings the song to visual life with his sweeping landscapes and evocative portrayals of the people who lived the building of the railroad — from the financiers in the East to First Nations people across the country to the thousands of navvies themselves, many of whom came from as far away as China. The book includes Gordon Lightfoot’s music and lyrics, a brief history of the railroad, notes on the illustrations and further reading.

“Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” an extraordinarily special song, has inspired this very beautiful book that many will want to own as a keepsake.