Last Spike (Grand Trunk Pacific Railway)

The Last Spike of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was driven one mile east of Fort Fraser, British Columbia, Canada on April 7, 1914.

In British Columbia, the railway had to cope with incredibly difficult terrain, extreme weather conditions and a shortage of workers.

[3] Then, in 1912, the Grand Trunk Pacific was dealt another blow when its general manager Charles Melville Hays died in the sinking of the Titanic.

The president of the Grand Trunk Pacific, Edson J. Chamberlain and Alfred Waldron Smithers, chairman of the board of directors, and other officers of the company all arrived by train from Winnipeg and Montreal, while from Prince Rupert, more dignitaries came for the ceremony, among these, General Superintendent W.C.C.

Edson Chamberlain drove the last spike, (not a golden one but a standard black iron one), and once he completed that task, he gave gold watches to the men in charge of each crew.