D'Alton Corry Coleman CMG KStJ (July 9, 1879 – October 17, 1956) was a Canadian railway executive and businessman.

He oversaw expansion which added 3,620 kilometres (2,250 mi) of branch lines in the Canadian Prairies, and guided Western Canada railways through the Great Depression.

He developed the CPR to support logistics during World War II, including manufacture of munitions, expanded shipbuilding and established one of the country's first private blood donation clinics.

He was the father of sports journalist Jim Coleman, served as the vice-president of the Montreal Canadiens, and owned a horse racing stable which produced the winner of the 1943 Canadian Derby.

Coleman had a long association of community service with the Navy League of Canada, and served in executive positions on multiple financial institutions including the Bank of Montreal and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

He was the oldest son in a family including six boys and one girl, to parents James Coleman and Mary Jane Doherty, who were first generation Irish Canadians.

[3] During summers he worked 11 hours per day at a local lumber yard, earning C$12 per month as a tallyman checking freight on flatcars.

After completing business college, he worked one year as a secretary for George Albertus Cox and Edward Rogers Wood at Central Canada Loan and Savings Company in Toronto.

After a night of roaming the streets Buffalo to keep warm, he visited a restaurant where the female owner listened to his story, fed him a large breakfast and gave him money for a rail ticket to get to his relatives in Sarnia.

[3] Coleman began working for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) on November 4, 1899, as an assistant engineer's clerk in Fort William.

[3] Coleman was in charge of all CPR trackage from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean and oversaw expansion which added 3,620 kilometres (2,250 mi) of branch lines in the Canadian Prairies.

[1][3] Coleman also served as chairman of the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada, and as a director of the West Kootenay Power and Light, both as part of the CPR supply chain.

He was involved in the management of multiple railroad partners, including as director of Northern Alberta Railways, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste.

[1][7] During World War II, Coleman oversaw manufacturing of munitions at the CPR Angus Shops in Montreal and CPR Ogden Shops in Calgary, and expanded shipbuilding to assist the Allies of World War II and replacement of steamships lost to enemy attacks.

He also used the Angus Shops to establish one of the country's first private blood donation clinics in co-operation with the Canadian Red Cross.

[3] His experience in working up the ranks of CPR led him to believe that, "the great majority resent being patronized, want to be recognized as self-respecting citizens, and treated accordingly".

[2][4] He stated in a 1944 interview that, "humanities should be sacrificed to so-called practical courses" and that "our medical men, engineers and others should have the best training obtainable in the world".

[14] Coleman attending sports events in Canada and the United States with his sons, including the 1925 Stanley Cup Finals, horse races at Saratoga Springs, New York, and games at the World Series.

[3] Jim Coleman stated that his father had a good memory, and could recall the minutes and seconds of world records held in horse racing, and knew statistics for British cricket players despite not seeing a match in person.

His son Rowan became a soldier and served with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry during World War II.

[3] His son Jim became a syndicated sports journalist who credited his father for a love of horse racing, ice hockey and Canadian football.